Most definitely was a factor. For me it was still a brilliantly executed performance by Fury on the road. And Fury deserved far more plaudits in Britain than he got in the immediate aftermath. But... running from the rematch = no confidence he could do it again with the surprise factor gone.
He surely was the longest #1 in history, but the WBO was recognized as a major sanctioning body by the WBA as early as 1999. Besides, by this logic, Oscar de la Hoya would only be a 4 division champion rather than a 6 division, and Prince Naseem would have only had three title fights. Nobody really thinks these things, WBO champions were referred to as champions in the late 90s by much boxing media. Although I will admit Lennox being recognized as undisputed in 99 mucks things up a little, a lot of people besides Wladimir were recognized as champion with a WBO belt far before Wladimir won a WBO title.
With all due respect, that's fake news. The WBO was NOT considered a major world title during Wlad's first reign, regardless of any Wikipedia revisionism. Louis is the longest reigning champion of all time, single reign or combined.
This. Wlad had been declining as a fighter for years. At 39 Wlad was still a top fighter, but clearly not as capable as he was from 2008-2012.
Wlad was 40 years old, and let's face it, Fury didn't look great at all winning that fight. I was extremely underwhelmed. Fury has two great victories over Wilder. That's pretty damn impressive, especially since Wilder proved to be a MUCH better fighter (and yeah, I'm talking about his King sized Championship Heart) than anyone expected. Due to those two victories and his holding the belt for quite awhile, Fury has at least broken the top 22 ATGs imo. I think after the 2nd Wilder fight noone could contest he was the best heavyweight in the world and had been for a time.
In fairness to AJ, Wlad contracts had even worse clauses in them for his opponent. When Vitali was still active if either guy lost the opponent was contractually obligated to face the brother next and if he wins that fight he has to face the original brother after that. Basically had Haye beat Wlad, then he would have had to fight Vitali next and if he won that he would have had to face Wlad one more time. Those are just HW A-side tactics..
What about Ali vs Foreman? I feel people often say it was because of the ropes and Foreman would win a rematch because of it but imo it was because of Ali's handspeed. I had him up in that fight. Same with Wlad vs Fury, sure vs AJ you can argue that his age was a factor and a younger version would have beaten him. But against Fury that age wasnt a factor in how the fight went. How does a 2010 Wlad do better? Only thing he has then is emmanual Steward in his corner who would tell him to attack more after a few rounds. But if he fights the same style, age 30 or 39, he is losing those rounds.
Age or not Fury’s skills was the reason he beat Wlad. It’s simple Fury’s feints froze Wlad from committing offensively which in turn made the fight boring as Wlad was confused on when to engage. However Wlads age also played a part. The passing of the torch fight for Ali was Larry Holmes. Yes he retired after getting his belt back from Spinks but he returned to get the WBC from Holmes and failed.
Fury's immediate two fights previously were slick backfoot performances against Hammer and Chisora and Wlad told Fury before the fight "you move well for a big man". After the fight Wlad expressed surprise that Fury was "so fast after the first 6 rounds", suggesting that he expected Fury to be on his bike. Wlad prepared for a number of different strategies as he was meticulous, he mentioned sparring southpaws too. He just wasn't able to do anything in the ring.
If Wlad had produced his Thompson 1 performance or his Sultan performance prior to Fury you would say that Wlad was shot; awkward Jennings just exposed limitations which were always there and Wlad wasn't allowed to clinch him to death in America as he did Povetkin. Wlad lost by a wide margin in his backyard as the A-side against a pre-prime wide underdog Fury in his first championship fight. Wlad's best wins were Byrd (tiny, non-puncher) Peter (short, slow, crude) Haye (small, survival mode, limited) and Pulev (stiff, static, jab and grab, non-puncher). He'd already been destroyed by journeymen and fringe contenders in his athletic prime so he was afraid to open up for fear of gassing out and getting KO'd again. He never produced any moments or performances that are on par with several of Fury's and he's not remembered as an exciting champion. All Usyk's done at HW is have a tough fight with Chisora and beat AJ in far less devastating fashion than Andy Ruiz did. Until he beats Fury he isn't a real champion.
