Fury ATG?

Even that's debatable honestly. I mean sure, Fury's size, chin, and skills would give plenty of guys problems but he's only ever been in 2 real serious elite fights, both against Wilder whose a pretty limited fighter who relies on his power 90% of time.

All we learned from those fights is that Fury is tough and can make adjustments, but he sorely lacks variety in the type of opponents he can beat. Where are the counterpunchers? The boxer punchers? Inside fighters? Movers? The only other elite he beat was a gunshy old Wladmir in a bout you yourself said was one of the worst matches to watch of all time. You have to actually beat decent opponents to be rated highly h2h size alone isn't enough. Otherwise we can argue someone like Valuev is an elite h2h fighter.

 

Bernard Hopkins is I think the greatest fighter of the last 20 years.

 

Seems to me that some posters here jump on Boxrec to look at a guy's resume but don't take the time to watch and study the fighter

 

His resume will become crystal clear in the next couple of years if a couple of good fights are made i.e. Usyk, Joshua etc.

The x factor is what Wilder does in his next few fights as most of us can't really pinpoint Wilder due to lack of fights against top contenders. Let's say Wilder knocked out Joshua, suddenly Fury's resume is somewhat strengthened. Let's say he knocked out Usyk, suddenly Fury's resume is bolstered in a very big way.

This is why you wait, and the current heavyweight climate is particularly murky until three or four of them sort it right out. If Fury beats Usyk and say, Joshua, well he is starting to knock on the door to the 10 and that would age quite nicely as time went by imo

 

But of course if he looses to Andy Ruiz, then suddenly he doesn't appear such a big scalp any more, and Joshua and Ruiz start to look like more serious omissions.

I am not saying that I expect this to happen, but you never know.

 

There are flip sides for sure. Of course all his fans will then die on the hill of he's way past his best, he's past prime, the Fury fights took everything out of him etc etc etc.........rightly, wrongly or in between.

 

Great middleweight, but why?

 

Clinton to be honest the real answer is pure bias and love for B-Hop's career. But if I had to defend it, I'd say that not only longevity but his ability to come back from losses like a new man. Seriously, its like two different Hopkins lace up the gloves when he loses and rematches. I love his fundamental style, his defense, his versatility. He'd give any atg middleweight a real fight.

 

I get that. But the best fighter of the past 20 years? If you went back 30 you could make a case, but he doesn't have a great resume the past 20.

 

Haha guess I have got to go back 30 then! But yeah its pure bias and enjoyment of his style and personality, he definitely has the credentials for the argument to be made, im just not the person to make it, frankly.

 

His 175 resume isn't so great. But how he performed and what he accomplish at that advanced age is remarkable.

 

The obvious counters to that argument are (1) Wlad was old and people had been saying he looked a bit out of it for a while (2) he never rematched Wlad despite being contractually obliged to (3) Wilder can't box worth a lick and his resume is as hard as baby milk formula.

In my opinion what makes a Top 10 is longevity and dominance and resume. If you wanted to make the argument Fury is a top 10 H2H you'd have a decent case to make. Personally I think Fury would whoop Louis, for instance. But Louis has the resume and dominance over the division to cement his claim. Fury does not. And no, I don't count "lineal" claims.

 

Although I did criticise Fury’s paper thin resume. At this point the one argument for him being an ATG that I can agree with, is that he is at this point in time, the best heavyweight of his era. I’m not suggesting this era is particularly strong, but that does count for something.

 

Even greatness has its tiers, and he will be a second or third tier ATG, with guys like Patterson, Bowe, Walcott, Vitklit, etc.

The resume isn't think enough to be up top, and since he is 35 and fights infrequently, it isn't going to get there.

IF he beats Usyk (if!) and follows it up with Joshua, and maybe 1-2 of Joyce, Hrgovic, Ruiz...then we might talk about the lower end of top ten.

 

Fury really is like Ali just without a loss to a 5'11" smokin joe. always doubted and picked against.

Its not a question of IF, it's a question of who, when and how. Fury is son of krypton and zues combined.