TYSON FURY – FLOAT LIKE A BUMBLE BEE, STING LIKE A…BEE?
Science tells us that the Bumble Bee should not be able to fly. The Bumble Bee does not care a jot for science, and happily flies anywhere it wishes.
The ‘Sweet Science” tells us that Tyson Fury should not be the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World. Tyson Fury lifted the belts held by Wladimir Klitschko for much of the past decade, with little more trouble than a bumble bee experiences lifting pollen from a daisy.
Very, very few people (and I will include myself strongly in this camp) really believed that Fury had a chance against Wlad in last month’s challenge. Sure he was an unbeaten challenger that could talk a good game, and one that was actually bigger than the reigning champion, but he has so many obvious flaws, that it was almost inconceivable to give him anything but a punchers chance. And his punch has often disappointed!
So why did so many esteemed ‘experts’ fail to even offer a sliver of hope to the controversial man from Manchester? What did everybody miss?
I feel the main reason is two-fold, firstly Fury is a solid all-rounder without any obvious stand-out strength in his arsenal. The lack of an obvious stand out strength (Wilder has POWER, Haye has SPEED, Vitali had STEEL, etc...) is then seen as almost a weakness of itself, "he's not a puncher, he's not fast, ne's not got great whiskers, etc...)
He is not a concussive one-punch knock out artist that will generate a great youtube video of his highlights, and so many will lazily say he hasn’t got the power, despite the former point not proving the later point. He clearly has enough power to dissuade even the very top opponents to keep their guard and their distance (reference Wlad's battered face after their encounter).
He is not fast and flashy, a dancing destroyer like the Herbie Hide of the 90’s, or relative speedster's like Holyfield and Haye that have come up from Cruiserweight, but again this should not mean that one assumes he is not quick enough of hand and foot to control the range and tempo of a fight, as he illustrated quite masterfully when ascending to the throne in Germany.
He does not possess a granite chin, having been floored heavily by both Cunningham and Pajkic, but the fact that he quickly recovered in both of those bouts (unlike Lennox Lewis managed against McCall and Rahman, or indeed Wladimir managed against Brewster, Sanders or even Puritty) is ignored and he is labelled "chinny".
His conditioning and physique suggest that he is not in great shape or taking the business as seriously as a sculptured hulk like Wilder or Anthony Joshua, but once again, we should not ignore that Tyson has appeared relatively comfortable beating Klitschko, Johnson and Chisora over the 12 round championship distance.
The above points combine to paint a picture of a fighter without explosive power, mediocre speed, that is a little chinny and does not train or prepare properly.
This leads to the second point: all of the above is further exacerbated by the ribbon that wraps the entire package; the madcap giant that can often appear clumsy in the ring (the most viewed Youtube clip of Fury remains the one where he misses his uppercut and punches himself in the face).
He proved conclusively against Wladimir that whilst he will clown around, both inside and outside of the ring, he is not a fool. And maybe his “weaknesses” are actually a strength.
Opponents are unlikely to enter the ring with huge concerns regarding his power, but a trained fighting man of six-foot-nine weighing in around eighteen stone is quickly going to have them realise that they do not want to take to many clean shots, or risk taking one to give one back.
His speed will not have something that an opponent is likely to have developed a particular game plan to try and counter, and then during the first round they realise they are taking jabs to the nose whilst feeling they were comfortably out of range.
Fighters opposing the Champion may hold back shots looking for the big pay-off punch that will cause the end of his reign, but struggle for range against the effective, if not Vivian Harris-like balletic, footwork, seeing the points pile up against them in the meanwhile as the rounds tick over at a comfortable pace for one so big and heavy.
After the Klitschko fight, I read a quote from Chisora that “Fury must know voodoo as when you finally get in the ring with him you have no energy”. Del Boy raises a good point, albeit whilst missing the real reasons as I doubt the Fury camp have dolls of his opponents in the dressing room stuffed full of pins.
But has any fighter managed to look good, even for a prolonged spell within a bout, when fighting Tyson? Has anyone that has entered the ring to combat him even matched their expectations, let alone exceeded them?
He is clearly awkward in the extreme, carries a spiteful punch with either hand, is effective (if not slick) in his movements, with a sound punch resistance, and the sizeable bulk needed to manage the range at which a fight is fought along with the pace with which it proceeds at.
Add to that the ability to (almost) always be the bigger man, to lean on and sap strength and stamina of his opponents.
I wrote off the big man’s chances against Klitschko. I even "donated" £10 to the Bookmakers the night he first fought Chisora, thinking that Del Boy’s more conventional style, solid whiskers and powerful hooks would be too much for Fury to deal with, even after a ring walk that suggested Chisora’s training camp had taken place inside the local Burger King and had seen him eat two of his sparring partners!
After getting it so wrong, I (just like the real experts) I now start to ponder how long Fury can reign for as the figurehead of the sport, will he emulate Muhammed Ali and be revered as the (or one of the) Greatest, or be more like Leon Spinks and simply become a chapter in someone else’s story?
Whatever and however long he remains the champ, I fear it will be a constant case of proving himself. In the run up to the rematch with Wladimir, many will no doubt say they expect that Wladimir will “show-up” this time and reclaim the greatest prize in sport, somehow suggesting Wladimir lost the belts, rather than Tyson won them.
If Tyson retains and looks towards the equally criticised Wilder, many observers will undoubtedly point to the knockdowns of his past and state that Wilder’s power will decide the day.
Beyond that there is little doubt that many will make a case that more traditional, conventional and dare I say, well-mannered fighters coming through like Joshua, Parker et al will dethroned Fury once they step up.
I am starting to come around to the idea that we could see a good number of years with Fury starting as the champion in the ring, and the makeweight with the bookies, only to emerge victorious and continue to find a way to win against “superior” boxers.
The scientists will keep saying that it can’t, but this bumble bee might just find a way to keep on flying for a very long time.