As per the title. Take both fighters exactly as they are now, at their current age with any/all the pros & cons (and baggage) both physically & mentally they currently have now at "this point" in their careers. Are either in decline in any way compared to their younger selves?. Past prime already maybe?. Improving?? One example/common denominator could be based on their past Wlad fights for instance (or any particular fight you choose). Imagine they each fight Wlad now at the age and level Wlad "was" when he first fought and lost to both fighters (39 for Fury and 41 for AJ). But "without" the benefit of hindsight for both AJ & Fury at their current age and career level as of now. So in effect it would be the first Wlad fight for both AJ & Fury rather than a rematch. Do both AJ & Fury still beat Wlad at that age the same way?, any easier now?, Harder?, Differently?Or even Lose?. Have we seen the best of both AJ's and Fury's fighting potential or are they at peak or still to peak?
Fury said he has improved the Kronk style by 50%. Fury always has tricks up his sleeves and AJ has hit his peak, his confidence is gone and when your confidence is gone you are on the decline RAPIDLY
Arguable. From what i can tell both are still improving. But thing thing is Fury is improving his offense. Whereas his defense peaked when he fought Wladimir Klitschko. Some people say Fury from the Klitschko fight is the best Fury while others say Fury from the Wilder 2 fight is the best Fury. Its pretty debatable
AJ learned a valuable lesson against Ruiz he should have learned in 2014 against Whyte... He is making small incremental improvements but is still levels off Fury who is uncatchable. Sadly AJ's mental game has been dented after Ruiz. He's become very wary of his defensive vulnerabilities in close and doesn't like to trade there anymore. He is clearly thinking his way through a fight which is great...but hesitation in boxing is not a good thing. Fury takes big leaps and does things that he's never done before fight by fight, it's remarkable given how he was when he debutted. Couple weeks under Steward and he had a whole new stiff arm jab... Under ben he utilized his ridiculous body & head movement Under Peter he developed his defensive footwork The most recent important lesson Fury has now learnt is as a heavyweight he shouldn't be thinking about dropping weight if he stays fit and healthy forget about fight night weight just train hard and whatever you weigh you weigh. 260 debut...it shows a lot of his career has emphasized unnecessary weight cuts from losing fat whilst being out of shape. People call him a fat man but he's a skinny fat man with a massive torso with giant lungs, he's built for stamina. AJ is trying to cut his weight now, he was at 254 at one point but now back down to 240. Can they improve? yes a little...but once they both hit 34/35 it's a slow decline. Fury more so given he relies on movement & doesn't have raw natural power which is the last thing to go.
Definitely. The Ruiz loss messed up his confidence. But in the Fury fight he'll slowly realize Fury is the exact opposite of Ruiz
It's his speed. Since he started hanging around bodybuilder's and putting on loads of muscle mass, he looks slower, more stiff. I know he cut down he muscle, but he doesn't look the same from his early fights.
He's faster now tbh and its better. His gas tank was abysmally small because those steroid cow bodyduilder muscles were sapping his oxygen to near strangulation levels everytime he threw a 1-2 left hook.
If you're asking do near 40 Fury & AJ beat a near 40 Wlad, my answer is very iffy. In those hypothetical fights I think Wlad goes 1-1 and very likely 2-0. Tough to answer. I think they're both near their primes. Just approaching or just past is speculative.
I think both are better than when they fought Wlad... but with Fury, at some point his inactivity and lack of good opposition is going to take its toll. Also, Id imagine large guys like him with his style age worse than someone like AJ. But thats just conjecture on my part. So Id say they are at their peaks, but Fury is courting decline with his inactivity, imo. I also think his decline might be more pronounced. I wonder though if his decline will be offset by his natural ability for fighting. I could see that as well I suppose. Whereas AJ relies on his gifts, Fury can fall back on his instincts when his body starts to decline. Anyways... lets hope they fight next before they do start their declines.
Aj is definitely still improving slowly. He'll probably reach his peak at 34 before he starts declining
Both are at their second peak imo having they lost the title one time (retire for Fury and loss with Ruiz for AJ).
AJ is making improvements, but still has a bit of his confidence shook from the KO loss. I think he'll be the best version in another 2 or 3 fights. If AJ right now fought the same Wlad he fought, I think AJ would lose. Not sure if he has the confidence to climb off the canvass and fight hard like he did the first time. Fury is a bit of an unknown. He put on an amazing performance in the Wilder rematch. Learned a new style and won in convincing fashion. Fury is a guy where you never know what type of shape he will be in. He skilled enough that it hasn't caught up to him yet, but it makes it hard to say what is the best version of him. If Fury fought the Wlad he fought, I think Fury would win by KO. Fury would always be a nightmare for Wlad, and the more aggressive "Kronk" Fury would stop him.
