Top British promoter Frank Warren is sticking by troubled heavyweight champ Tyson Fury, refuting claims the unbeaten 28-year-old who is currently battling mental health issues is finished as a fighter. A number of people are ready to put the boot in on Fury (if they haven’t done so already) and with the governing bodies looking at stripping Fury of his belts, rival fighters are ready to come in and snatch them.
Still, no matter what happens to the WBA and WBO titles that are still, for the time being, the property of Fury, nothing can happen to his status as THE linear heavyweight king. Fury cannot lose this status unless he is beaten in the ring – as Warren has pointed out whilst writing for his website, as quoted by The Mirror.
“Through no fault of his own, the pause button has been pressed on the career of Tyson Fury and I, for one, believe that is what it is – just a pause,” Warren wrote. “It has been widely documented that Tyson is suffering from mental health issues and, that being the case, he must now be given the time, space and support to enable him to make a full recovery. I certainly believe he possesses the strength of character and resolve to do just that. Tyson may be out of the running at the moment, but in the eyes of most he will be champion of the world until such a time he is defeated in the ring.”
The big question is, how long will Fury remain inactive for? Not having boxed since last November, when he won the world title by stunning Wladimir Klitschko, Fury runs the risk of being largely forgotten if his inactivity lasts too much longer. Are we about to see a fully fit and focused Fury launch a great comeback early next year though? Fury has his faults as well as his critics, but his fans really do want to see him recover and fight again.
It might be worth remembering that the great Muhammad Ali, who won the world title with a stunning upset victory of his own – over the “invincible” Sonny Liston in February of 1964 – did not make his first defence for a very long time: 15 months to be exact. Ali, like Fury, was taken ill – with a hernia – and his rematch/defence against Liston did not happen until May of 1965. When the rematch did happen, Ali blew Liston away and went on to be a very active champion.
Fury has been inactive for just over 11 months and who knows, he may be back in action before a further four months go by. So Fury is certainly not the only world heavyweight champ to have taken, for whatever reasons, a long time to get busy defending his crown. Maybe Fury’s best years lay ahead of him still?
