Can we please stop with this "Fury ducked Wlad" narrative? (Prepare for an essay).

I'm not even a Fury fan, he's annoyed me in recent years with his antics (i.e. the delaying of the Usyk fights plus the refusal to accept he lost). I've lost a lot of respect for him that I once had. But I really have a problem with this idea that he ducked Wlad the second time. The guy clearly went through a mental health crisis, and I find it troubling that people seem to just gloss over that or act like he faked it. I get that it's Fury, and therefore you have to take most things he says with a pinch of salt, but I 100% believe him when it comes to his mental issues. First of all, and no I'm not a mental health professional, but I do think Fury seems mildly autistic. I'm mildly autistic myself, so I recognise a lot of traits, and a lot of the things he has said when talking about his issues, resonate with me. Anyway, if you go back and watch videos from around the time after he beat Wlad, it's obvious something is not right with him, mentally. The face-to-face sit down with Wlad, where it seems like he doesn't even want to be there, and doesn't really care about what happens in the rematch. And other videos where he says really dark and depressing things in response to questions, and seems way more religious than normal. And then he disappears for 3 years, and absolutely balloons in size, and his voice completely changes. That's not a guy who just wanted to take a break and have a good time. Most other boxers would have been on top of the world after doing what he did, but for him, it was the beginning of a dark path because he'd achieved his dream, and he didn't have that goal anymore. He even said he was scared of beating Wlad because he knew it was coming. I completely understand this, I've gone through very similar things mentally minus the drugs and alcohol, but I completely relate to the food. I lost 6 stone over the past few years, and then put it all back on this year. I always need to have a dream or a goal I want to achieve, otherwise I can't function, so I completely get where he's coming from when he says that.

Sorry for the essay, but, TLDR... I just think it's wrong for anyone to assume or act like that none of that happened, and that he just ducked Wlad. Whether you like or dislike a fighter, when it comes to mental health, it should always be taken seriously, no matter who it is. No one truly knows what someone else is going/has gone through. And everyone is different in how they handle or cope with it. That's all.

 

Nah doe dog. Mental crisis is just the newest excuse for being drunk and on drugs.

 

I think he is genuinely bipolar, and reaching his life's goal really sent him into a spiral. I don't think there was ever much chance of him being in shape for the rematch considering.

Fury was entertaining and added a lot of flavour to the division, even if he messed around a lot. But he turned out to be a bit of a "what if"

 

Except Fury blatantly ducked the rematch, along with every prime live body in his entire career.

 

Best case - Fury conveniently had a breakdown just in time to avoid (probably) losing the rematch.

Worst case - he ran like a *****.


Let's face it, it's not like either case is out of character...

And either way, it devalues that win over Wlad - a competitive rematch loss would've been fine, another stinker of a win would've been fine...

But when you win as a big underdog and don't back it up by even taking the rematch, it devalues that win and it looks bad.

 

Heck... Turning up and having a breakdown in the ring and getting squashed (ala McCall against Lennox) would've looked better than not turning up and getting caught on the peds.

You have to hand it to Fury, though, the man is an absolute master at making an embarrassment of himself.

 

Fury beats Wlad 24 hours a day, 7 day a week, 4 weeks a month, 12 months a year, and 100 years to the grave. Wlad is not on Fury's level. A big stiff robotic idiot.

He dominated him in every way a man can be dominated.

They sat there in the rematch face to face, Fury depressed as anything and Wlad sat there talking absolute rubbish and Fury with no effort picked him apart. Levels.

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It's a shame the OVERLY Peter Fury defensive Fury fought Wlad, a more balanced Fury would have chinned him or even a no gameplan Fury fighting on instincts and sex appeal.

The real beauty of Fury is when he sits there spitting facts and pulling heavyweight history off the dome without hesistation, a true heavyweight historian just like his namesake Mike Tyson.

 

I disagree with you so hard. But damn it, do I respect your ability to turn a phrase.

 

Was a rematch even necessary given how outclassed Wlad was though?

 

I think due to Wlad's status and long time domination of the division that he should've been given a rematch. I do think that Fury would've most likely won the rematch as Wlad would've been 40 and Fury was at his peak.

Knowing a bit about Gypsy's I am not surprised that Fury could not handle the money and fame at his age growing up the way he did with a lot of hardmen and wannabe hardmen drinkers it was no surprise he went off the rails with drugs and alcohol. Billy Joe was the same he got the big payday against Canelo and has never fought since he looks like he has been on a steady diet of booze and fast food.

 

Outclassed? I've seen women throw more punches in a Walmart parking lot than what he landed on Wlad for 12 rounds

 

The idea he ducked Wlad and didn't have 'problems' is not really fair, no. He fought Wlad away and when everyone expected him to get KO'd. He showed up and fought and won. Literally everybody thought he was getting destroyed.
That's not the behaviour of a ducker. Many others ducked Wlad and when they did they didn't get in the ring.
After the fight he thought he could have done better, which is true.

As for the 'mental health', I don't believe in a lot of the modern bs classifications and agendas but the fact is there was definitely something up with Fury after the fight. Anyone who followed the interviews could see he was saying weird things all the time and showing no motivation to box anymore. If he just wanted to duck Wlad and carry on he could have simply done that, released the belts etc., and come back and fought other people pretty quickly. You don't quit and become an obese weirdo for 3 years just to avoid one opponent.
The story Helenius told about him going AWOL in camp and headbutting the ring posts tends to confirm he was/is a mental case.

Also the fact he came back and fought Wilder when people told him not too, which was basically the same risk as Wlad II, maybe more, tends to help his case.

Interestingly Wlad literally did duck the AJ rematch and nobody has a problem with it. Then many years later he talks about being in great shape and wanted to come back? Sure Wlad didn't win and 'owe' a rematch, but the rematch was supposed to happen and he pulled because he had 'lost motivation', which basically means he didn't think he could win. I think that's a far poorer excuse than Fury being fat and unmotivated to train and fight and truly having little chance of winning because of this.

 

I thought the REAL reason Fury went AWOL for 3 years

was more to do with the BBBoC

Correct?

 

I also think this weighed on his conscience

And caused a lot of his erratic behaviour