Prime Vitaly Klitschko vs Tyson Fury

Fury only struggles with these kind of guys because his brains falls asleep because it's so easy, then he gets dropped and his brain turns back on.

 

Always felt a big fighter who doesn't give you time to breathe, to think, is a hard night for Fury. Fury is a better boxer than Vitali. But I think Vitali beats him. Vitali is as big, stronger, Fury can't 'out-engine' him, I don't think he can keep him off. Vitlali will keep walking forward, keep throwing, keep nicking rounds. That said. Fury from Wilder 2 has the best shot against Vitali. But I still think he loses. Now, here is where it gets silly.. from me..another fighter who was half the boxer Fury was but who beats him and for similar reasons as above is...the Joyce who beat Parker. Relentless, huge work output, solid chin, heavy handed. For me both men physically outlast Fury, outworking him and relentlessly march towards decision wins....OK, OK, I'm waiting, someone tell me I'm deluded....

 

I agree. The main way to beat fury is by pushing him back, although I think body & chest shots are the key. I wouldn’t even bother head hunting for around 6rounds.

any headshots just drop a bit lower to his chest. And he needs pushing back.

his stamina is poor with a fast pace too

 

I think Fury would still beat those guys Vitali did but I don't think he would do it as effortlessly as Vitali did. Vitali legit lost 10 rounds or so in his entire heavyweight career. I don't imagine Vitali struggling like that with Ngannou or McDermott either I think he would have ran through both.

 

1. Vitali wasn't a big puncher. Surely he could punch as any 250 lbs man would, but he wasn't a puncher. Chris Byrd literally said Wlad hits 3 times harder than Vitali, Kevin Johnson (fought Vitali sparred Wlad) said getting hit by Vitali is like getting his by Caddilac while getting hit by Wlad is like getting hit by a huge truck. Phil Jackson rated Vitali's power levels below Wlad's, Briedis who sparred both, also said Wlad hits much, much harder. Yes, Wlad was aming the hardest hitting HWs ever, but what people who sparred or fought both brothers say is that their power isn't even comparable, it's leagues apart.

2. Vitali had good stamina for such a big guy (better than Wlad, Lewis or Joshua), but I think his stamina/endurance was comparable to Fury's ones. The only times Fury was outlasted was against Usyk who has an ATG stamina. Vitali also looked very tired against slick heavyweight in Chris Byrd, who, by the way, couldn't bring the intensity of Usyk or his pressure

3. Vitali used his height very well against smaller guys but he was very hittable against big men. Not just against fighters like Lewis or Sanders - watch his fight against C-level German stiff Timo Hoffman where he got tagged a lot.

4. One huge advantage that Vitali has had against Fury was his dedication to sport. Fury often came undertrained while Vitali didn't. But I'd favor Fury in his best shape to beat Vitali by UD, close but clear

 

Vitali fought against 3x good opponents in his entire career and lost to two of them.

The third, a hobby golfer, almost managed to knock him out.

I pick Fury by UD against one of the most overrated Heavyweights of all time.

 

I've actually always thought that Fury would beat Vitali but lose to a prime (can still pull the trigger quickly) Wlad. Vitali leaves his hands too low, and uses his height to pull back (which normally works). His reach is dwarfed by Fury's reach so that particular tactic won't work well and Fury ain't gonna land to hurt, only to score. Also Fury's feet are better than Vitali's.

Also: This would be a very ugly fight.

 

I agree he wasn't a massive puncher but his punches were consistently hard and accurate. He was efficient in an almost remorseless way. I don't think Vitali would take the little breaks Usyk did, I think he'd be 'on him' all the time. Rest of your assessment i broadly agree with, we just differ on the winner...good post man

 

Just because Usyk beat Fury, doesn’t mean all of sudden everyone beats him.
I’d confidently pick Usyk to beat Vitali, and for my money, there was only 1 round in the Fury vs Usyk rematch.
Fury beats him to the jab, feints and befuddles him and occasionally throws the right when it’s there and sees most of what Vitali throws coming.

 

Perhaps more accurate to say "because he's deeply unprofessional and always has been".

When he has a point to prove, or is fighting someone he has good reason to fear... He prepares properly, gets his tactics expectations of his opponent right... and shows up fit (or at least, as fit as he can).
Examples - Wlad, Whyte, Wilder 1 and 2.

When he's fighting someone he knows/suspects is far beneath him? His lack of professionalism takes hold and he doesn't turn up anywhere near his best...
Examples - Wilder 3, Ngannou, etc.

I don't even think it's about ring IQ, that's always decent... It's just he gives himself a mountain to climb.

 

No, but generally when someone gets beaten... That's when reality enters the conversation.

Fury's losses to Usyk haven't suddenly changed what Fury was ever capable of - what they have shown, undeniably, is that there's a ceiling to him.
How high that ceiling is will still be up for debate, mostly because his resume isn't that deeply stacked and there are question marks about exactly how meaningful his perceived best wins actually are (eg: How overrated/overhyped was Wilder? Did Wlad underperform and how much? How would a Wlad rematch have gone? Etc).

Basically, the wild overrating of Fury as a H2H goat is gone - it doesn't mean just anyone beats him, but it means that more people are willing to think about it.

Sadly, keeping the zero, by whatever means, almost always winds up with the fighter getting overrated.