Former WBC heavyweight champion Frank Bruno has a lot of respect for Tyson Fury, and he believes he’s the #1 fighter in the division today.
With that being said, the 60-year-old Bruno feels that if Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs) fought during his era in the 1980s and 1990s, he’d have been beaten by the top heavyweights.
Without Bruno naming any fighters specifically, it’s pretty evident that the 6’9″ Fury would have had his hands full against these top fighters during Frank’s era:
- Mike Tyson
- Lennox Lewis
- Riddick Bowe
- Evander Holyfield
- Donovan ‘Razor’ Ruddock
- Tommy Morrison
With Fury’s fragile chin and his tendency to maul like a big bear, he would be wide open for the inside shots from a prime Mike Tyson. We’re not talking about the faded version of Tyson that we saw in the early 200os that lost to embarrassingly bad heavyweights.
It’s scary to imagine what the 1988 version of Mike Tyson would have done to Fury with his short compact punches on the inside. The way that Fury’s game has been changed from boxing to mauling, he would be right in Mike Tyson’s power alley with his new Kronk Gym style.
“It’s a good fight; Dillian Whyte is very powerful. Tyson Fury is dangerous and can box,” said Bruno to DAZN about Fury’s potential match with Whyte. “If [Whyte] hits Fury, he’ll hit the floor.
“knows deep down in his heart if he was around in my day, they’d eat him for dinner,” said Bruno about the fighters that were in his era.
The 1980s and the early 1990s version of Tyson would have eaten up Fury’s bear-like mauling that he’s learned from his trainer Sugarhill Steward. That style would get Fury knocked out repeatedly by different heavyweights in the 80s and 90s.
An in-shape Riddick Bowe with his powerful uppercuts that he used to throw would have had a field day with Fury’s mauling.
Guys like Lennox Lewis, Morrison, and Razor Ruddock would have been all over Fury if he tried to use the same holding & leaning tactics against them that he employed in his last two fights against the spindly-legged Deontay Wilder.
“I’m not going to sit here and disrespect him, but we’re talking about a different era. He’s living on a different cloud from what I was on.
“He’s number one; he deserves to be number one. I’ve got a lot of respect for him.”
Tyson Fury is a good heavyweight for this weak era of the division, but he wouldn’t have been a significant player during Bruno’s period.
Lennox Lewis would have found Fury out and knocked him out quickly just like he did the 6’7″ Michael Grant with a devastating uppercut in the second round in their fight in April 2000.
