AJ & USYK or NO Legitimacy... PERSPECTIVE Right Here - Lil' Klit - BoxRec: Wladimir Klitschko 30 TOP Fighters before Fury and AJ after him... 19 years and 67 Fights before Fury. Fury - BoxRec: Tyson Fury 7 top fighters (generous), before Wlad in 24 Fights and 3 after Wlad for 32 Fights total = NO LEGACY. Only AJ offers an acceptable Stamp to consolidate some measure of Legacy, but over HISTORY Fury needs BOTH USYK and AJ. PERSPECTIVE!
So he's definitely announced his retirement? That's it, he's done? If he never fights again, then he's on the same level as Marciano for me. Head to head he could beat any number of greats, but his actual fighting career is a mixed bag. His trio of fights with Wilder have livened the division up and he beat an ATG in the old Wlad. Missed opportunity s would maybe haunt the man if he goes now.
Obviously if Fury retires now and never comes back Wladimir Klitschko is higher than him on an all time list
it's not about JUST Wlad, it's about DOZENS of Great HW's before Fury... he shouldn't even be on a list!
In his heart I think he comes back for the winner of AJ vs Usyk. This is a bargaining ploy. He has to feel extremely confident against either man. Especially if Joshua wins and he could pocket 30-50 million for that fight and it’s right around the corner in less than a year.
What is the evidence he is at all scared of Joshua? Fury has had various problems & reasons for not fighting. I would rather he only fought Wilder at max twice & faced someone else. Also he does not even approach Wla, even considering all the clinching & rule breaks he got, & is nowhere near top ten all time-no matter how well he might do head to head. But a big slugger type who might gas & has been taken out twice already would seem a good match for Fury. I would think Usyk presents more problems.
Generational. Unbeaten. Defining HW trilogy post Bowe-Holyfield. Only guy to win a fight fought between Wilder-AJ-Fury. So clearly the number one for the era pre-Usyk's retirement. Clearly top 20 and the comparison between he and Wlad is the right one and a difficult one to make.
Fury vs. Wilder is even reminiscent of the Ali vs. Frazier trilogy, or Patterson vs. Johansson trilogy, in some ways. 2 undefeated, highly ranked Heavyweights, and, in this case, it took 2 fights to remove the 0 from 1 of them!
Fury's the best heavy of his generation. One of the best 3 since Lennox Lewis retired - maybe even THE best. A fight with the winner of Usyk/Joshua will be hard to turn down.
He has a decent case for top 20, but his resume is thin. Don't see his case over Wladimir, he's better than Vitali though.
Absolutely outstanding top end wins. Out boxed the best boxer of his generation, and out punched the best puncher twice. Dillian Whyte was not in the class of the above two men, but he was unquestionably world class, and he was beaten in a very dominant manner. Beat everybody that he ever faced, in all but name. The person with the best claim to have beaten him IMHO is John McDermott, so file that one next to Marciano Lowry. The only thing that I can fault in his top end wins, is the decision in the first Wilder fight. My criticism of his resume, would be that he only has five fights against ranked opponents, which is fairly thin. Some people have pointed out to me, that this statistic might be misleading. Derek Chisora and Steve Cunningham had critical decisions go against them, that arguably should have gone their way, close to their fights with Fury. These were high risk low reward fights on paper. In that respect his volume of top end wins was starting to edge into the Marciano category. In legacy terms, it must hurt his standing to some extent, that he missed a lot of key contemporary fighters. Whatever the circumstances, he never fought Joshua, or Usky or Ruiz. Comparing him to recent fighters, I would have to rank him below Wlad, but above Vitally. Like all retired fighters, his legacy will remain fluid for a few years. Some of his opponents will gain currency, and some will lose currency. He would be very vulnerable to a disaster for Deontay Wilder. On the flip side of the coin, if Otto Wallin beats somebody in the top ten, or Wilder picks up another strap, then his currency increases.