By Martin Salt: British Heavyweight contender Tyson Fury laboured to a third round stoppage of Canadian Heavyweight Neven Pajkic in Manchester, UK last night. Fury looked cumbersome from the beginning and it was worrying to see him look relatively out of shape when the fight began.
Pajkic came out swinging from the start with wild punches which were missing Fury by a wide margin. The size difference between the two fighters also told with 6’9 Fury managing to initially stop the 6’3 Pajkic with his stiff jab.
At the end of the first round Fury was breathing hard and was clearly feeling the early pace. Going into the second round Fury began showboating by raising his hands in the air and gesturing for Pajkic to come onto him. Pajkic responded by knocking down Fury for the first time in his career with a wild overhand right that sent the British fighter crashing to the canvas. Fury got up on his feet by the count of eight and just managed to hold on to reach the end of the round.
The third round saw Pajkic run out of steam as the Canadian had clearly used all of his energy to stop Fury in the previous round. After a flurry of punches put Pajkic twice onto the canvas, the referee stopped the fight when it appeared that Pajkic could no longer fight back. The decision to stop the fight did not go down well with Pajkic who left the ring in a rage although it was clear he was tiring and would have not lasted another round.
For Fury the fight will have been a wake up call. The Mancunian did not look comfortable and questions will inevitably be asked about his current mental state which has clearly affected his preparation for this fight. Prior to the bout Fury said he may need to seek the help of a psychiatrist and that he is feeling suicidal. Going into a boxing ring feeling like this is not a good place to be.
From this showing Fury is a long way off being ready to challenge the Klitschko brothers. Fury would probably struggle against Povetkin after last night’s showing. What Fury needs to do is find his form from his fight against Dereck Chisora.
The last thing the British heavyweight scene needs now is Tyson Fury becoming another Audley Harrison.