By Jim Dorney: Britain has some good fighters on the scene at the moment, and continues to punch above her weight (if you’ll pardon the pun) – Amir Khan has arguably the highest profile, but Carl Froch has also solidified his reputation, and there are a number who are starting to make an impact – Nathan Cleverly being one, whom I believe may have a very bright future indeed. However – the fighter who is receiving perhaps the most press hype at the moment in Britain is Tyson Fury.
Having followed Fury’s career with interest, I find him somewhat of a frustrating enigma. At his best (which I’d argue we saw against Dereck Chisora), he shows above average skills, good combinations, effective counter-punching & a decent chin. Not enough to promise world-class potential (at least not yet), but enough to warrant some of the attention being lavished on him. Chisora, for his part, looked dangerous at some points – most notably in the second round, but might have ultimately scuppered his chances by coming in too heavy. How well he does against Robert Helenius will prove most interesting, and could reflect well on Fury, especially if he gives a good account of himself – which I suspect he will (whilst I doubt he’ll win).
Conversely, his most recent performance against Neven Pajkic represented several steps back as far as I’m concerned. He looked disorganized, in poorer shape than he did against Chisora, and frankly without much of a game plan other than outright banging his opponent out – something which his critics argue the referee did more than a little in assisting him with as far as getting the result…
It’s not the first time the 6’9 Mancunian has appeared beatable, either. I wasn’t alone in thinking he was very lucky to get the verdict first time out against John McDermott – a solid pro, but not in any stretch a world-class operator. Fury did somewhat better in the rematch, but still looked far from dominant until very close to the point the bout was stopped. The big man also looked shaky at times in his contest with tough American journeyman Nicolai Firtha, who could be argued to be a classic example of an figher that makes his opponents look ordinary at best.
To be fair to Fury, he’s still only 23, and has already faced some reasonable opposition, which should have given him good experience. I think he’s still at 17-0 far from the finished article. So – where should he go next? He’s been calling out Alexander Povetkin, who is seen as the weakest ‘world champion’ out there -which many would argue isn’t a moniker he truly deserves, but I’m not convinced Fury would come out on top against the former Olympic gold medalist. Another option being talked about is British rival David Price, who looks very capable to me. Price (who holds a victory over Fury from the unpaid ranks) would be a very risky fight for Fury, but would be one that would certainly silence some of his critics should he come out on top. He has been quietly gaining experience & only recently been calling anyone out (Fury), as opposed to Tyson who has been running his mouth since day one, claiming he’s the best around. It will be most interesting to see how Price gets on against the aforementioned John McDermott. If he puts him away quickly then I think Fury has reason to be very concerned (whilst I accept that styles make fights, and you can’t always gauge how well a given fighter would do against another based on a common opponent).
Arguably the easiest option (whilst one that would likely result in much derision) would be taking on Audley Harrison, who word has it still wants to fight despite his debacle of a performance against David Haye. At least Harrison would be of a similar size to the hulking Fury, as many of his victims to date have been notably smaller (to be fair though, when you’re 6’9 & around 255lbs you’re going to struggle to find many that can compete size-wise that aren’t outright fat). Two other decent domestic match-ups would be against David Price’s last opponent Tom Dallas (15-1) or the undefeated but untested Richard Towers (12-0). At 6’6 & 6’8 respectively, they have the size to give Fury some reasonable preparation for Price, but I suspect that Mick Hennessy will be after more well-known names.
A final name I think could be worth consideration for Fury would be Alexander Dimitrenko. At 6’7, with a 32-1 record and much experience, ‘Sascha’ would be a very good test for Fury, whilst not being as dangerous a puncher as Price appears to be. That said, as long as they both keep winning, I suspect Price & Fury will be on a collision course…
So – to conclude; for me the jury’s out on Tyson Fury at the mo, but I’ll continue to watch his progress with interest, because at the very least, he provides excitement & value for money, which is more than can be said about a large proportion of the current crop of heavyweights out there.
I welcome your comments.