YouTuber Ariel Helwani believes former WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury isn’t done as a fighter yet heading into his rematch with WBA/WBC/WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk on December 21st in Riyadh.
What could be a problem for Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) is that he’s facing a fighter that may be too athletic for him and will always have his number, no matter how many times they fight.
That’s one concern Helwani has for the 35-year-old Fury. His skill set doesn’t match up well with that of Usyk, who is on another level.
While Fury still uses crayons and color books, Usyk is painting Picasso-level masterpieces inside the ring. That goes back to the trainers. Fury hasn’t had the same level of coaches that Usyk has had during his career, and he’s stubbornly stuck with his Kronk gym-trained coach, SugarHill Steward, who has taught him how to maul, and he’s become too reliant on that.
“I think it was a tale of three fights. The early going was Usyk, then Tyson, and then Usyk towards the end,” said YouTuber Ariel Helwani to Pro Boxing Fans, talking about the May 18th fight between former WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and unified champion Oleksandr Usyk in Riyadh.
“I favored Usyk going into that fight. He’s quicker, the better boxer, and I thought he was going to give Tyson all kinds of trouble,” said Helwani. “We’ll see what happens. I think Tyson is one of the greatest of all time, and I think he’s one of the best heavyweights of this generation.”
We don’t know how good Fury was before fighting Usyk because his best wins were against 39-year-old Wladimir Klitschko and Deontay Wilder. If you throw out those two names, you’re left with fighters like Derek Chisora, Steve Cunningham, and Otto Wallin. Does beating those types of fighters make Fury one of the “greatest of all time”? You can say Fury is overrated.
Fury’s best win is against Klitschko, but that fighter was very, very old. Imagine Fury fighting a top-level heavyweight at age 39. I don’t think it would end well for Fury.
“I just wonder if there are some guys [who have your number],” said Helwani. “If Joshua fights Usyk ten times, Usyk is probably going to win the majority of those fights, and I wonder if it’s the same with Usyk and Fury as well.”
There’s a very good possibility that Usyk would beat Fury 100 out of 100 times if they fought. He’s just that much better, and would wreck him in every fight. That’s not going to change with how Fury performed last time they fought.
“So, he [Fury] just has to be himself. He has to be smart. He has to use his range, use his length, use his boxing IQ and try to figure him out. Obviously, that’s easier said than done,” said Helwani.
Fury tried being himself last time he fought Usyk, but it didn’t work. He lacked the engine, and his attempts at mauling were ineffective. Without the ability to grab and lean, Fury had no answers.
“There needs to be one chief corner, and everyone chimes in,” said Helwani about the chaos in Fury’s corner during his last fight against Usyk. “That makes you wonder what it was like during the build-up. Are there different messages? Are there different people saying different things?” said Helwani.
What Fury should do is fire all his coaches, and get one good quality trainer. Make sure his dad, John Fury, isn’t chirping advice in the corner during his fights. He needs to be kept away and let the coach do this talking. Fury has got the money to get someone really good.
“I’m not ready to write off Tyson Fury yet. He’s too good, too talented, and he’s had too great of a career for us to write him off just yet,” said Helwani.
It’s not over for Fury because he can still beat most of the top 10 heavyweights. He just can’t beat Usyk, and would likely lose to these guys as well:
Daniel Dubois
Anthony Joshua
Filip Hrgovic
Zhilei Zhang
Bakhodir Jalolov
Moses Itauma
Joseph Parker
Agit Kabayel
Jared Anderson
Martin Bakole