Whyte has zero chance of dethroning the Gypsy King.

I remember the Cunningham knockdown was constantly (misguidedly) cited in the build-up to Fury-Klitschko, for all the good it ended up doing Wlad, but at least it was relatively recent history in 2015. For what it's worth in 2022, a guy might as well pull up the first John McDermott fight in aid of theorizing a path to victory for Whyte. Actually, @red corner did exactly that a few weeks ago.

 

Well when I brought up the Povetkin vs Hunter fight to demonstrate how Povetkin is still very much a livetop dog... it was dismissed as old news despite being 12 months earlier.

shrugs shoulders...

 

Tyson softening him up and keeping him calm in the pressers with kindness and friendship. It's the same mind games but with a completely different end goal.

Yet still the same people who have doubted Fury at every hurdle of his career will not learn and their lesson probably still won't be learned after Saturday night.

I have doubted Fury a couple of times in the past but I won't do it again. This guy is true greatness

 

I’m guessing you’ve never seen Whyte talk before? He looks very relaxed and comfortable.

 

Wilder II saw him demonstrate slickness while on the offensive. Knock the competition if you will (though it should be recalled that very few were crediting him with being capable of winning the fight from an aggressive posture), but my eyes told me I was seeing not only the best fuelled/conditioned Tyson Fury there's been, but the most complete and cohesive in his craft. He never was limited to just sticking and moving, there always was more to his game than that, it was just a matter of mindset (finally preparing himself in a manner befitting an athlete) and environment (a coach who believed in his bulldozing potential) aligning to produce the seamless boxer/puncher/mauler of February 2020. Far as I see it, 'Kronk Fury' was no accident or twist of fate — rather, that incarnation is the fighter I always expected him to become.

I was not a part of those conversations. I did fancy Povetkin could pull a rabbit out the hat in his first encounter with Whyte ([url]and I bet modestly on the T/KO[/url]), but I was predicating on him doing exactly what he ended up doing, i.e. hanging tough and drawing upon his experience, technical grounding and nous/reading comprehension to at some point exploit Whyte's relative crudeness and set up a shot that would either knock him out or leave him too hurt to survive any follow-up. I wasn't predicating on him being anywhere near prime form. He was a very faded force, but he possesses a certain pedigree which, combined with his punching power, and even while running on fumes, made him a dangerous proposition for a comparatively unpolished guy who lives off trading shots in mid-range like Whyte.

Far as Hunter-Povetkin goes, I think that fight said more about the Hunter hype (which I never cared for) than Povetkin's fitness for purpose as a contender.

 

That's my take on Fury in this presser. Basic reverse psychology. Whyte did look a little confused at times too.

Beware the enemy that come's with a smile.

 

Whyte's definitely got the more powerful left hook but I'm not sure he's got a more powerful jab, uppercut or right hand. Pulev had a very stiff jab but his right hand wasn't much harder, Wilder's left is nowhere near as powerful as his right etc.

Against his 9 best opponents, Whyte has one stoppage (Chisora 2) and 4 KD's (Parker, Chisora 2, Povetkin 1 x2). He couldn't drop or stop Dave Allen, Helenius, Wach, Rivas, Chisora 1, Joshua.

Against his 9 best opponents, Fury has five stoppages (Hammer, Chisora 2, Cunningham, Wilder 2, Wilder 3) and 8 KD's (Hammer, Cunningham, Wilder 2 x3, Wilder 3 x3). He couldn't drop or stop Wlad, Wilder 1, Wallin, Chisora 1.

However, Fury was a backfoot boxer in many of those fights or for large stretches in those fights, whereas Whyte has always been an aggressive boxer-puncher or brawler, so stylistically you'd expect Whyte to drop and stop opponents more frequently. In spite of all this, Whyte has a 63% KO ratio over 30 fights against lower quality and less durable opposition, Fury has a 69% KO ratio over 32.

It's possible that Whyte is the all round bigger puncher but he doesn't have the skills, speed, timing, accuracy or general attributes to utilise it but it's also very possible that with at least some of his shots and at around 270 lbs, Fury hits harder than Whyte.

 

Which is why the idea of him doing so with success in Wilder II should have been received with more open-mindedness during the build-up to that bout. Episode #2,567,378 of the wildly popular and never-ending internet serial, Sleeping on Fury, though.

With that said, I do credit Steward's knowledge as a technique coach and belief in his new charge with helping Fury get the absolute best out of that facet of his game.

Valid theorizing, though I do strongly suspect there was some sort of agreement that the presser would be a cordial affair to appease Whyte's persecution complex. I don't think it really matters to Fury whether he's berating this guy or showing him love. He can throw Whyte a bone.

 

With all due respect watching Whyte against Wach, I know he was out of shape, he had problems there and Tyson Fury can do pretty much everything Wach was doing a lot better.

 

It could very well have been that (someone forgot to tell big John though!) or a combination of both appeasement and mind games. It was still Fury controlling the narrative either way and Whyte willing to follow.

Looking forward to the weigh in Friday!

 

Whyte is a live dog, no two ways about it

70/30 in Fury's favour but if Whyte springs an upset its not gonna be "that" much of a shock