Tyson Fury feels that he’s being targeted by all the top heavyweights in Dillian Whyte, Anthony Joshua, and Oleksandr Usyk, who want to take what he’s got.
WBC heavyweight champion Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs) is considered the #1 heavyweight in the division today after his two wins over Deontay Wilder, and victory over Otto Wallin.
2022 is expended to be the most challenging year of the 33-year-old Fury’s 14-year professional career, as he’s got a tentative title defense against his WBC mandatory Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) that must take place by April, and then from there, he’ll be facing the winner of the Joshua vs. Usyk II rematch, possibly in November or December.
Right now, there’s much uncertainty surrounding Fury’s fight with Whyte because ‘The Body Snatcher’ hasn’t been speaking to the media, and he pulled out of his previous fight with Wallin due to a shoulder problem.
If Whyte’s shoulder problem resurfaces for him, he walks away from the Fury fight, and some boxing fans would say, ‘Good riddance.’ They want to see Fury fight Joshua, Usyk, Andy Ruiz Jr, or even a fourth fight with Wilder.
Fury: Whyte hiding like a scared rabbit
“Very close but at the last minute, AJ came back and wanted more money. He scuppered the whole deal, to be fair,” said Fury to Max On Boxing on ESPN when asked how close he came to fighting Oleksandr Usyk.
“It’s very, very crazy dealing with these guys,” Fury continued. “Not pleasant times for me. Very messed around a lot. Just jokers.”
“It’s something to see the best fighter in the division, who also is the champion, has mic skills and has the media on him and everything,” said Max Kellerman in talking about Fury.
“It’s funny to see that guy, that’s you, call out all his challengers. It usually works the other way around, champ,” said Kellerman.
“That’s correct but it seems like these days the heavyweights are all running scared,” said Fury. “After they saw me destroy Deontay Wilder last time out, I don’t believe they want a piece of the Gypsy King these days.
“They all had a lot to say when they thought they weren’t getting these fights; i.e., Dillian Whyte. He’s had a lot to say over the last few months since he’s been the mandatory for me for two minutes. He’s going on, ‘Tyson won’t want to fight me. He’s going to fight somebody else.’
“All of a sudden the fights on his toes, and he’s gone silent. I’ve been calling his name out all over, and he’s been hiding like a little scared rabbit and I can’t find him,” said Fury about Whyte.
“It must be frustrating because this is one of the better heavyweight eras that we’ve had,” said Kellerman. “If you look at the 70s and the 90s right now, you’re a dominant champion. But Deontay Wilder can knock down a building with his right hand.
“Anthony Joshua, you can make fun of him. He’s an Olympic heavyweight gold medalist, he knocked out Klitschko and has beaten a lot of good heavyweights. Dillian Whyte is a top-five contender, also with mic skills, and knows how to promote.
“A lot of guys in an interesting division, and you Tweeted this photo this week. What is that about, champ?” said Kellerman.
If Whyte is doesn’t bail on the fight, it’s going to be interesting to see how the press conferences go between him and Fury.
Unless Whyte is taking a vow of silence during the promotion, we should see some fireworks going off in the press conferences because this fight promotion needs it if it’s going to see to the U.S fans.
All the heavyweights want Fury
“You’ve got the coward, Dillian Whyte, the man that needs to go to the Oz to get a heart,” said Fury. “You got the old stiff robot, Anthony Joshua, and you got the scarecrow & clown in Usyk. You got little Eddie Hearn [dressed up as Dorothy].
“They’re all coming to see Oz, which is me, Tyson Fury, the ‘Gypsy King’ to get what they want,” said Fury.
“Champ, you’re coming off an all-time great trilogy against Deontay Wilder,” said Kellerman. “In fact, there are things about that trilogy that are reminiscent of Ali-Frazier.
“In the first fight, Ali goes down in the last round. Gets back up and doesn’t win it. The same thing in the first fight. In the second fight, Ali won pretty handily.
“Obviously, you won even more handily in your second fight. And in the Thrilla in Manilla, Ali kind of went, ‘I got this. I don’t have to worry about Joe Frazier too much.’
“He didn’t come in as his best and went through hell in the greatest fight ever just to barely beat Frazier. It seemed to me in your third fight with Deontay that you came in a little overconfident and you were having your way early and had to really fight through trouble to beat him.
“How do you see that third fight? I haven’t had a chance to ask you?” said Kellerman in wanting to know if Fury was overconfident for his trilogy match with Wilder.
After the way Fury was dropped twice by Wilder in their trilogy match last October, the other heavyweights likely see weakness in the 6’9″ Gypsy King. Getting dropped twice and with the second one appearing to be an 11-second long count, Fury is ripe for the picking.
That brawling, mauling style that Fury’s American trainer Sugarhill Steward has taught him has resulted in him taking punishment that he never did before.
It wouldn’t be a big deal if Fury had a strong chin, but that’s not the case. He gets hurt easily, and it’s possible that Wilder may have dented his chin in their last fight, making him succeptble to getting knocked out.
Fury couldn’t train properly for trilogy
“I wasn’t overconfident or cocky. I had a lot going on in my life,” said Fury. “For one, I came 22 months out of the ring with Covid, which didn’t help me.
“Two, I had a little baby daughter that was born five weeks before that fight and she died. We got her back to life again. I was in the children’s hospital in Liverpool going through hell and back, watching over my newborn daughter in losing her and bringing her back to life.
“For that fight [Wilder], I started training on September the 1st and I boxed Wilder on October the 9th,” said Fury.”Don’t forget, I had to cross the sea as well and acclimatize. Let’s face it, I didn’t get much of a training camp for that fight.
“Still, no excuses. He got what he got. He got knocked out cold, snd it was an epic fight. It was probably better that way because if I had been match-fit and active like I was in the second fight, I would have wiped the floor with him in a heavyweight battle.
“It wouldn’t go down in one of the greatest trilogies in the history of our sports. I’m not complaining,” said Fury.
“The funny thing is when Ali fought Liston the first time, he was having such an easy time,” said Kellerman. It was almost like the boxing God said, ‘What would happen if we took away your eyes? Could you still beat Liston without your eyes?’ The answer was, yes, he still fought through those tough times.
“Could you still beat Frazier and Foreman when you’re not at your best?
“In your case, another great heavyweight champion, both of your fights with Deontay that were difficult for you, there were reasons why they were difficult. You say you don’t make excuses.
“They sound like explanations. You’re also fighting a guy that might be the hardest puncher in the history of the division, he catches you and knocks you down, and you’re forced to climb off the deck to beat him.
“In a way is there a part of you that is kind of happy it happened that way because you got to prove yourself in a way in a way that you otherwise would not have?” said Kellerman.
“Yeah, you never want to get put down in fights to entertain people. It’s not something you plan to do,” said Fury. “It’s part of boxing, unfortunately. You get knocked out, you get back up and you carry on.
“In heavyweight boxing, you can get hit any time of the day snd get knocked out. I was happy with the way things went. On the night you’ve got to rise to the occasion. You make things happen sometimes when it’s not there,” said Fury.
