It would be a good win, but Fury's resume is still pretty thin. Fringe top 11-15. Beating an ancient gunshy Wladmir, the wild reckless Wilder, and Usyk isn't enough for ATG status. He could add a few scalps like Ruiz, Joyce, Parker, and Joshua to put some spice on his resume, but we all know Fury is trying to get one big payday and get out of the sport ASAP so I'm not holding my breath.
Fury shouldn’t jerk the public or the still active champions/contenders around. This era is extremely frustrating for the increased ratio of talk to actual fighting. If you’re out, then stay OUT. As Elvis sang “A little less conversation, a little more action PLEASE! All this aggravation ain’t satisfactionin’ me!”
Some might be forgetting Fury's never actually been beat. So whether "on" or not he's found a way to win every fight. Sure he's missed a few and been inactive but he's won every......single........time. Lets not fuss over the rip off that was Wilder 1. Holmes and co missed plenty too and not many of them, excepting Tyson, fought high ranked contender after high ranked contender. So while i agree some more meat on the sandwich would be good it's not as if he's shown a few contenders would equal a loss. I'd completely disagree he would have picked up a loss against Joshua's lot unless you speculate on Usyk who he's only fought very recently and even then Fury would start favorite. I think Fury would beat Joshua's prior lot all day everyday and twice on Sunday. As for Wilder, well i wouldn't be surprised if he picked up losses against AJ's mob as overall they were most certainly a stronger bunch than his own.
I generally agree with points made, namely that Usyk would benefit more in a p4p/ATG sense with a win over Fury, rather than vice-versa.
So JT, do you think Usyk stands to gain somewhat more than Fury if he, as opposed to Tyson, emerged victorious from a bout between the two? Just imo but I would say yes in absolute HW ranking terms and certainly in relative P4P rating. On the flip side, I don’t think Usyk losing would necessarily damage his current standing so much but Tyson losing could see him fall back a notch or so….so a higher risk fight for Fury than it is for Oleksandr???
Nice questions Pugs. I think both stand to gain a lot, for starters. I agree with your view Usyk would gain more, particularly P4P but indeed in HW ranking terms. I also agree completely that Tyson has more to lose, a fair bit actually. You would find the version of Wlad he actually met being heavily "critiqued" and Wilder would also take a hit that's for sure. A solid win for Fury see's Wilders stocks rise IMO. So Fury has quite a bit more riding on this and the stocks of Wilder and Joshua are somewhat on the line as well. So many scenarios. Just imagine if Usyk, against the odds, schooled Fury? Joshua grows half a foot taller, Wilder plummets, Usyk explodes and Fury plummets as well. If Fury puts a clinic on Wilders a bit better off and Joshua plummets. My expectation would be a Fury decision with Fury's stocks rising some with Usyk, Wilder and Joshua staying similar to where they are. I'd love to see this fight as well as Wilder - Joshua. If Wilder and Usyk won they could square, while we'd see Fury - Joshua if they prevailed. Pipe dreams i know. I'd love to see Wilder against Usyk at any rate. So many little riddles would be answered with all of these fights mentioned. I've rambled enough but let me predict whoever loses out of Fury and Usyk will likely see many of their fans, rightly or wrongly, claiming they're past it. Quite a few Classicists may also make a similar claim in order to minimise said victory of a modern fighter.
Top ten. If anyone would still have Marciano or Dempsey over Fury with a record of Klitschko, Wilder x3 and Usyk—therefore beating an ATG, two of the biggest punchers in heavyweight history, and the P4P no.1–with how much that would be proof of Fury’s versatility against styles, it would simply be bias towards the old timers. Fury doesn’t have much in the way of depth wins obviously, it’d be all killer, no filler, but Chisora x2 Wallin and Hammer are not to be sniffed at entirely.
Excellent, covered all bases. Too bad there are so many desired and logical matchups we would’ve more than likely seen in decades past that we now have to lament as being “pipe dreams”. I agree that Fury would have to be reasonably favoured over Usyk - it’d be nice if Usyk came into the fight with a magically enhanced punch that could make all the difference - but his pervading mobile style that serves him most viably for the greater part of a fight puts a lid on his power potential. Just an isolated observation: Usyk has a hellavu chin - took a powerful Joshua right hand, straight down the pipe. Usyk certainly got stung in round 9 but duly covered and retreated - unusual to see for Usyk which I think lent to a bit of an exaggerated perception as to how he hurt he was - though he was prob hurt more than he’s ever been.
Pit him against even the Top 6 of these SUPER Heavyweights, and compare their opponents... the man has fought No One. Here's a list of 21 of the Top SUPER - Heavyweights in history (might have missed a few)... HASH it out among yourselves. SUPER - Heavyweight - 6' 5" or taller. Lennox Lewis Riddick Bowe W Klitschko V Klitschko Gerry Cooney Ernie Terrell Tony Tucker Michael Grant Jameel McCline Lou Savarese Henry Akinwande Jess Willard Primo Carnera Tyson Fury AJ Wilder 6' 4" Top Fighters... Carl Williams (BIG Heavyweight, border S-HW) Corrie Sanders (BIG Heavyweight, border S-HW) Andrew Golota (BIG Heavyweight, border S-HW) Dillian Whyte (BIG Heavyweight, border S-HW) ... Pit Fury against even half of these, as he has fought No One and see where that leaves him. Heck just look at some of the Opponents these S-HWs faced, far better than Fury can even imagine, many of them!
Fury never lost and dominated his era, Frazier lost and didn't manage to dominate to the same extent.
Once again he didn't even do as much or as good as even these, his S-HW Divison breathren, and most of these aren't considered among the greatest of all - time... So please Rank Him among these, before you tackle the Greatest Heavyweights of all-time. SUPER - Heavyweight - 6' 5" or taller. Lennox Lewis Riddick Bowe W Klitschko V Klitschko Gerry Cooney Ernie Terrell Tony Tucker Michael Grant Jameel McCline Lou Savarese Henry Akinwande Jess Willard Primo Carnera Tyson Fury AJ Wilder 6' 4" Top Fighters... Carl Williams (BIG Heavyweight, border S-HW) Corrie Sanders (BIG Heavyweight, border S-HW) Andrew Golota (BIG Heavyweight, border S-HW) Dillian Whyte (BIG Heavyweight, border S-HW) ... Pit Fury against even half of these, as he has fought No One and see where that leaves him. Heck just look at some of the Opponents these S-HWs faced, far better than Fury can even imagine, many of them!
If fury were to beat Usyk he’d probably go from top 20 top 15 for me. Head to head he’s better than this type of rating would reflect but his actually resume is too thin to have him in the top ten. As for Usyk I think it would benefit him more to beat Fury than the other way around due to the fact that he’s a former cruiser and the old of the two. If he were to have the claim to beating Joshua AND Fury and secure himself as a two division linear champ he’d get a lot of points