The physical transformation undergone by Tyson Fury over the last six months or so has been amazing to see. Right now, with the lineal heavyweight champ a week away from his massive, must-win fight with WBC king Deontay Wilder, Fury has released some photos of him in the gym, and they are startling to see. Fury, a giant of a man at over 6’8,” looks comparatively skinny next to his old self.
Sporting ripped abs, a slim waist and toned arms and shoulders, Fury – who, during his two-and-a-half year layoff, ballooned to 28st – appears to be about the same size as his current sparring partner, Lawrence Okolie. The problem is, Okolie is a cruiserweight! Taking an educated guess regarding Fury’s current poundage, he looks to be tipping-in at around the 230 pound mark, if not lower. Of course, looks can be deceiving, especially in a still-photo. But Fury really does appear to be lighter, and trimmer, than at any other time in his entire pro career.
But as good as he looks, has Fury perhaps lost too much weight, too much muscle, and with it, too much strength? We won’t know until fight night of course (the official weigh-in promises to be very interesting – many fans felt Fury would outweigh Wilder by a considerable margin but this may not turn out to be the case), but many fighters have, over the years, made the mistake of burning off too much muscle/fat/weight and coming into the fight weak as a result. Chris Byrd springs to mind, as does Roy Jones Junior, and going back farther, Sugar Ray Leonard.
Fury does not currently look like a giant of a man who will be able to rough Wilder up. Remember at the recent pressers, in London and then the US – Fury called Wilder “skinny,” saying he had “skinny arms that have no strength.” Right now, Wilder could return the compliment.
It was a fascinating fight as soon as it was first announced, before that even, and Wilder Vs. Fury is even more a can’t-miss affair now. Fury has worked harder in the gym than ever before in his life it seems and, according to his promoter Frank Warren, he has never been more determined to win. But again, has Fury overdone it? Will he, on December 2nd, be lamenting the fact that he, as the old saying goes, ‘left his fight in the gym?’
