Is Tyson Fury Truly Great?

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Promoter Frank Warren says Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk are “the two best heavyweights in the 21st century.”

Manufactured Legacy

However, that’s hard to believe, as Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs) doesn’t have the resume to back up that claim. Indeed, the eye test shows that he’s not even among the fifth-best of the division’s current heavyweights.

Tyson was just an overrated, carefully packaged hype job. If you look at Fury’s resume, nothing there suggests that he’s even in the top 20 heavyweights of this century. Throw him in with some of the talented contenders in this era or the past, and he’s torn apart.

If you look back at when the 21st century started, many heavyweights would have beaten Fury if he had fought them back from 2001 to 2012. This century began in 2001.

21st Century heavyweights:

– Vitali Klitschko
– Lennox Lewis
– Wladimir Klitschko: *young version from 2001 to 2009
– Corrie Sanders
– Shannon Briggs
– Martin Bakole
– Moses Itauma
– Joseph Parker
– Zhilei Zhang
– Anthony Joshua
– Bakhodir Jalolov
– Daniel Dubois
– Jared Anderson

Fury would have lost to most of those heavyweights if not all. You can only imagine what South African southpaw Corrie Sanders would have done to Fury with those left hands. The version of Sanders that knocked out Wladimir in the second round in 2003 would have made easy work of Fury. He’d have left the Gyspy King on the canvas in a pile of broken flesh.

A Shallow Victory List

The Gypsy King’s career was basically created from beating a washed-up 39-year-old Wladimir in 2015, and it wasn’t even an impressive performance. He barely beat the gunshy, shot to pieces Klitschko. From there, Fury made a goldmine, thanks to the careful matchmaking.

Fury’s Best Wins:

Wladimir Klitschko: *39 and over-the-hill
Deontay Wilder
Dillion Whyte: *journeyman
Dereck Chisora: *Same as above
Otto Wallin
Francis Ngannou: *0-0 novice
Steve Cunningham: *cruiserweight
Christian Hammer: Fringe contender
Kevin Johnson: *journeyman

“He’s one of the greats, and certainly him and Usyk are the two best heavyweights in the 21st century, that’s for sure,” said Frank Warren to Sky Sports Boxing about Tyson Fury. “Look at the great fights they had. Those two fights, both were unbelievable. Irrespective of who you thought won it, they were unbelievable fights.

“It takes two fighters to make a great fights. Tyson is up there with all the great names you can mention. He’s done everything you can ask him. He’s never been in a dull flight. All those fights you look back at, they were classic fights, dramatic. The drama in these fights is amazing,” said Warren, sounding like he’s going a bit overboard with his praise of Fury.




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