In MMA, heavyweights are judged on a P4P basis and their criteria makes far more sense than the impossible abstract nonsense of "scaling-up" a midget into a giant. It has to do with the depth of talent within the division relative to others and your relative dominance within it and takes into account factors like moving up in weight (which inherently favours sub-heavyweights but doesn't make it impossible for heavyweights to be P4P). Fighting on away soil is also a relevant factor in boxing that should be considered in any objective analysis. Heavyweights don't just get KO'd more because they lack the speed or evasive skills of lighter weights. After all, they also punch much more slowly. They get KO'd more because punch power increases relative to the strength of your chin as you rise through the divisions, hence why one-punch KO's are far more common at heavyweight than at flyweight. I don't agree with your evolutionary theorising. Man is a natural killer and killing your male rivals increases your evolutionary fitness in cold Darwinian terms. Wilder easily punches hard enough to kill the average man on the street in one punch, he just doesn't punch hard enough to kill giant men who are also trained athletes in the ring, at least not on any kind of consistent basis. Durability has been selected for as well as power.
Heavyweights are the rare segment of the population, if boxers can be scaled down to midgets you will have to go way below the size of Inoue-Pacman (average Asians) & even if adult median becomes (midgets) those 4'04" guys will be the most skilled due to the deeper gene pool. Wilder-Fury-Joshua are not average, not close to average, although the average (obese) person thinks of themselves as Heavyweights or closer to heavyweights (all credit goes to Andy Ruiz)
There's a fair bit of nonsense, mixed in with a few reasonable points on this thread. If Fury wins he will be best of the era without doubt. I agree with the P4P being subjective and irrelevant. Here's the thing. Whoever wins can rightfully say that no boxer on earth right now can beat him. I think Fury would beat every single boxer past or present who has ever lived. No man has been born in history who can beat Tyson Fury at boxing.
I think there would be an argument for it. He would then have dethroned the champ from the last era and the champs from his own era. He'll have directly or indirectly beaten damn near everyone in the division. So, Fury's resume probably would have the *quality* after a win over AJ, but the weakness is the quantity: Fury just isn't active enough, and when he is, he too often faces weak opposition like Pianeta, Schwarz, and Joey Abell. Breadth and quantity do count for something: When someone fights so rarely, we should wonder if they have hidden weaknesses that just haven't been uncovered yet. Amusingly enough, one of the times Fury faced a "very good, but not #1" guy was simply by accident with Wallin, who was unexpectedly skilled and perhaps did show some chinks in Fury's armor. Anyway, if Fury soundly beats AJ, then all Fury would have to do is beat a couple decent, but lesser, guys and then I think he probably would cinch it. Beat AJ, then take down some guys like maybe Whyte, Ruiz, and Povetkin. That would probably do it -- unfortunately I don't see Fury having the discipline for it.
This, the title is literally Pound 4 Pound. In literal terms, if a 100kg man can lift 100kg, a 200kg man would have to lift 200kg to equal that. In boxing terms, p4p is the best boxer regardless of size. Can you really say Fury would be the best boxer in his division if he didn't have the size advantage? It's like creating an Inch 4 Inch list and having Tommy Hearns top that list.
Fury destroys Lennox Lewis. AJ beats him. It's a size thing. But you did pick the guy with the best shot.
Depends how you calculate it, it would be 3 great wins (should be 4 but it isn't) It would be.. Beating Wlad in Germany and ending that long long reign Beating Wilder in the US by stoppage, ending his unbeaten record. AJ, to become undisputed heavyweight world champion. All things considered, his personal life, the state he was in, it would be very very impressive, obviously Fury can't go up and down weights so what else can he do? Who else can he beat to improve that resume? What can he do except defend those belts against fighters you'd expect him to beat. It isn't as if the Heavyweight division is stacked with talent, it simply isn't. So, He would have to be right up there, I can see the argument/case for Fury being P4P if he beat AJ convincingly.
Heavyweights get the short end of it in the PFP rankings. If Fury puts on a clinic and destroys AJ like he destroyed Wilder in the second fight, you have to give him strong consideration. Especially if the guys at the top (Crawford, Spence, Canelo, etc.) fight no hopers and outmatched opponents. I wouldn’t have a problem with Fury being at the top and this fight, depending on how he looks, could do it.
Lol Fury would get his back blown out by Prime Lennox Lewis and so would Aj. What is with all the Fury hype lately ? His best performance is outboxing a gunshy over the hill Wladimir Klitschko and beating up an overrated technically limited fighter who only relies on his right hand. Lennox Lewis was 6'5, 245 pounds, he is more than big enough to beat the breaks off of Fury. Lewis was agressive against taller opponents as well. Didn't Fury get knocked down by a Cruiserweight? And Aj is what ? 1 inch taller than Lewis ? And realistically speaking Lewis weighed more.
I agree. If Fury decisively beats AJ, a case could be made for him. Taking out Wilder and then AJ puts Fury clearly in place as the best HW of his era. This fight needs to happen. It is long overdue.
Given that Fury doesn’t seem to have an equal when it comes to his natural size in the ring, it’s a resounding no from me. As people have already pointed out, it’s called P4P for a reason. I never thought I’d be saying this, but the closest we’ve got to it at heavyweight in recent years is Wilder, and that’s simply because of his weight.
