Tyson Fury certainly scarpered and left the ring in double-quick fashion after being defeated for a second time by the simply superb Oleksandr Usyk, this last night in the big rematch between the two.
The big question now is, will Fury make as quick an exit from the entire sport? Fury – who as you read this, will have made a bunch of “I was robbed” complaints and statements, both with no real basis – has now been defeated twice, by the same guy, and this will not go down well with his enormous ego.
Fury, 34-2-1(24) will not get a third fight with Usyk, one would think so, anyway. So where does he go, at age 36 and no longer at all able to declare that he is the greatest of all time without being laughed at, apart from into retirement? Yes, there is still that big – big-money mostly – fight between Fury and Anthony Joshua, but will Fury really want to take part in a fight that could be dubbed ‘Battle of the Losers?’ And how much further tarnished would Fury’s legacy, his reputation be if he lost to AJ?
Fury, who really did believe he was the greatest fighter ever born (and maybe still does, this belief held in a delusional state), knows deep down that, as good as he was, he fell short at all-time elite status. “Pumped up middleweight,” Usyk has again proven to be too good, physically as well as mentally for Fury, and the Ukrainian southpaw has put the British star in his place.
The critics can be unforgiving, and now is not the time to put the boot in on Fury. But we must now ask ourselves, how great, or good, was Fury? How will the historians look back on Fury in years to come? Twice now, a natural cruiserweight has bested Fury; a truly exceptional, generational talent of a natural cruiserweight, yes, but the fact is, wins over an old Wladimir Klitschko and a dangerous but limited Deontay Wilder aside, what is Fury’s legacy?
Certainly, when we think of the true greats ones – fighters like Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Jack Dempsey, Larry Holmes, George Foreman, Lennox Lewis, and others – Fury has not done enough to be in their company. Or maybe you disagree?
But back to the question, what will Fury do now? For what it’s worth, I think we have seen the last of Tyson Fury in the ring. Fury’s last two fights will be listed as losses to Oleksandr Usyk.
But who knows for sure?
Do YOU think Fury will fight again, and if so, against whom?
