Where does Fury rank if he beats Usyk?

If he beats Usyk and AJ I honestly think you can rank him anywhere

 

Woulda, coulda, shoulda....
Even if Fury fights Usyk and actually wins his resume still isn't that great.
The ATG's of the division had 15-20+ championship fights, Fury is simply nowhere near that. Fury has only taken the fight because Usyk showed vulnerability in his last fight by getting dropped with a low / body shot. Fury is playing a game and a lot of the casuals just lap it up.
Fury fought a timid and old Vlad and beat an untested Wilder three times, other than that it's smoke and mirrors.

 

However I rank Fury if he beats Usyk, it doesn't matter that much. But boxing history and boxing fans would have to admit one thing - we got an undisputed HW champion after a quarter of a century.

 

Fury is the best heavyweight of the current era. Usyk could put a question mark against that should he beat Fury.

 

"IMO he's top 15 maybe top 12 if he beats Usyk and retires undefeated.
Top 10 if you add Joshua"

I think that assessment is close to fair. However, for me he doesn't break into the top 5 without putting in the work. For one, Zhang is still in play which really is a black eye on this generation for still not having cleared up the older fighters.

Fury's job after defeating Klitschko was to beat the likes of Povetkin, Pulev, Ortiz, etc. But that fell on the shoulder's of Joshua and to a lesser extent Wilder. Fury didn't clear out the previous generation, he's done a **** poor job of clearing out his own generation, and he hasn't fought anyone from the next generation. And quite frankly wasting his time on fights like Chisora 3 and Ngannou has likely buried any chance of that ever happening.

I still think the victory of Klitschko deserves a lot of credit, but I still hold in my mind that when Klitschko won his Olympic Gold, Fury was 8 years old. That's how big of a gap there was in wear and tear. After the Jenning's fight it was very much a case of who would get to Klitschko first. And that was Fury. But he ran from the rematch, which is an awful black mark.

Basically, I really don't like this idea that Fury (or any other fighter) just collects the achievements of every fighter he beats, without actually having to put the work in himself. This isn't Highlander, and styles make fights.

You look at who he would be competing with to get in the top 5 and you have names like Louis, Ali, Lewis, Holmes, Foreman. And a number of other greats whose resumes are just too deep.

 

Swap Joshua for Zhang.

 

If he retired straight after he'd be the top candidate for H2H GOAT. But in terms of depth of resume there are fighters from 100-odd years ago with 200+ fights. So it depends on your metric.

Ring heavyweight champion Usyk is the cruiserweight GOAT, the best southpaw heavyweight of all time and perhaps the most skilled heavyweight ever. How many historical heavyweights never fought a southpaw? Louis, Holmes, Tyson, Lewis and Bowe didn't, no one of note before 1994 fought one above Euro level. Holyfield, Wlad, Vitali and Joshua all fought at least a few good southpaws and they had 1-3 losses to them apiece. So that's already a huge advantage for Fury if Fury beats Usyk.

Ring heavyweight champion 6'5+ Wlad was the 2nd/3rd longest reigning heavyweight champion of all time, P4P ranked for 63 consecutive months and an ATG puncher with perhaps the best left hook in heavyweight history, who had never lost more than three rounds out of twelve. World title debut Fury dethroned him by UD on away soil as a 4/1 underdog, ending the 11.5 year, 34-0 Klitschko era and setting the all time, all weights defensive record for a contender against a champion in the process. Wilder and Joshua weren't going near A-side Wlad in 2015.

10 consecutive defence WBC champion 6'6+ Wilder is an ATG puncher with perhaps the best right hand in heavyweight history. Fury had a trilogy with him in America going 2-0-1, the underdog in two of those fights. This was on the back of 31 months of inactivity, drug use, chronic depression, morbid obesity; one of the greatest boxing comebacks. Fury managed to get up from a heavy KD in the 12th round of the 1st fight to take the fight to Wilder, one of the most iconic rounds/moments in modern heavyweight history. In the second fight Fury broke from conventional wisdom, went on the attack and destroyed Wilder, ending his 5 year reign, with Fury's performance instantly recognised as one of the best and most impressive in modern heavyweight history. The wild and brutal 3rd fight, with both Fury and Wilder coming off 20 months of inactivity, was instantly regarded as one of the best heavyweight fights of all time.

Fury would have gone through those five fights and thirty others over 15 years without a single defeat, which is extraordinary and unparalleled at heavyweight. And even Fury's 2nd tier wins are arguably the best wins of fighters like Haye, Povetkin and Vitali.

 

Agreed.

It's indisputable that Hearn/Joshua were ducking Fury:

https://www.boxingforum24.com/threa...ucking-of-fury-in-bombshell-interview.694541/

Zhang would probably be the bookies favourite to beat Joshua if they fought next (especially in China, Zhang might be a fairly heavy favourite if that's the location) and he'd certainly be the favourite on this forum. Beating Joshua does nothing for Fury's legacy anymore, unless Joshua destroys Wilder. If Wilder smokes Joshua then it will look even better for Fury.

 

Excellent post. Refreshing to read a detailed assessment based on fact and not tainted by narrative.

 

Holyfield would have beat both at heavyweight and Usyk at cruiser.

 

If Usyk beats Fury, what's the question? If that happens, Usyk is the best HW.

 

This post is complete dogshite.
How is Wilder the greatest puncher when fighting bums until Fury?
Then getting beaten arguably three times by Fury who was never considered heavy handed beforehand.
You use a lot of words explaining nonsense.

 

Agree with this 100%. Thanks for typing it.

And unfortunately, should Fury retire without doing much more, it's going to be the Haye thing over and over again on this site, with the pointless imaginary hypothetical s. Fury/Wilder both are/will be what their resumes' document as far as historical legacy goes IMO ... otherwise they're battling for their place with the likes of Ike Ibeabuchi

 

Best of this era.