I genuinely think Fury gives anyone trouble at his best. He might not win every fight (I think 60s Ali, Holmes and Lewis beat him somewhat convincingly) but he would be a tough fight for all.
He would be a hard night’s work for almost anyone. Do I think he wins a trilogy against any and all heavyweights ? No. I could definitely see lennox Lewis and Muhammad Ali taking two out of three against him. A prime Wladimir Klitschko ( not the 39 year old one who fury fought ) possibly doing the same.
To date his ranked opponents are: Klitschko Wilder X3 Whyte Not much to fault about his performances in these fights, but it is still very thin for a ATG. Also these wins will lose their luster, as we move further from the events, in my humble opinion. Imagine if the only things that you knew about this era, were the rankings of his opponents, and their boxrec records. I think that it would be a significant leap of faith, to favor him over anybody based on this resume.
Spoon never finished Holmes tho and he had him in huge trouble. Fury has shown himself to be quite like Holmes in that you can have him on the floor near unconscious but that's sure no given you are stopping him. It's about who you are trying to stop. Both Fury and Holmes are enormously difficult to stop when hurt. Wilder sure didn't have much trouble with 40+ other guys. I couldn't see Witherspoon stopping him in a fit personally. I'd back fury to decision him but that's another story.
I think it was due to Holmes being Holmes too. Holmes weathered the storm and then hurt him right back with a collection of right hands. After that point the danger was over....for both of them.
Sometimes I wonder if that ninth round was Larry's finest moment. He was insanely courageous, determined. I wonder if he ever looked that much a Champion again.
Before even speculating on "anybody", I would just like Fury to fight a very eligible "someone" - "someone" named Usyk.
Fury got hit by single punches though, Fury hasn't ever weathered a storm being hit by a volley of punches like Holmes did in round 9 vs Witherspoon. For example Fury got floored by single punches by Wilder, and whilst he deserves credit for getting back up. Wilder was never able to continue his offence, because of his limited skill set and sloppy finishing abilities. If Witherspoon hurts Fury with his overhand right, his superior skill set to Wilder makes him a more dangerous proposition overall I think. Holmes has survived wars where hes took punishment throughout, Fury has proven he can recover from knockdowns. But not that he can survive getting hit consistently throughout a fight.
To be frank i'd be surprised if Witherspoon dropped a Fury at the top of his game. Holmes didn't actually visit the canvas against Tim despite this volley of punches. Snipes dropped Holmes with a single punch. It's impressive that Fury even got up against Wilder in fight 1. Fury recovers super fast like Holmes does. Witherspoon punches hard but he's no-where near the Shavers/Wilder stratosphere. Tim gassed trying to finish Holmes just like Wilder gases fast if his second volley doesn't get you out. Fury has all sorts of height and weight to tie him up as well. Fury's been too good to take consistent punishment throughout a fight.
He would have never gotten away with what he has been doing and continues to do! Ducking the other top fighters, avoiding any real threats. He would have been picked off and pushed aside a long time ago. His resume is paper thin and he continues to protect that in any way he can. Start walking it and stop just talking it. Ali would have pulled him apart, Lennox out boxed him and put him to sleep, Mike Tyson destroyed him physically and mentally, Foreman put him down, the list goes on. One of the most overrated HWs in a long time. Just my opinion of course.
Furys been too good against certain level of opposition, but I don't think hes ever fought anyone as good as a prime Tim Witherspoon. Unless you think Wladimir at that stage in his career is on par with a prime Witherspoon. But I don't think it's out of the question Witherspoon could drop Fury, someone like Cunningham did it with a big over hand right. Infact in all of Furys knockdowns hes been decked by right hands. I think Fury is untested fighting against real skillful Heavyweights, apart from an aging Wladimir who was at the end of his career. I've yet to see Fury beat any real elite skillful Heavyweight in their prime.