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By Thomas Gerbasi - “We’re in for a bit of stir up in the heavyweights over the next few years,” said British heavyweight Tyson Fury while in the closing stages of his training camp in Ottawa for Saturday’s matchup with Steve Cunningham, and if you’ve been following the division for the last couple years, you can guess who Fury believes will be leading the charge.
The funny thing is, he’s probably right. And that has little to do with the way he fights, though at 20-0 with 14 KOs, he seems to have that part down, even if he’s still a bit raw around the edges. But what Manchester’s Fury has done better that anyone since countryman David Haye is bring a spark of excitement to a division that’s sorely needed it. And you get the impression that he’s only getting warmed up.
“There’s nobody who’s come, grabbed the division by the balls, and kicked it on its head,” he said. “And that’s where I come in. I’m not all talk; you get these British hype jobs and these European fighters and they can’t really fight. Let’s be real. I’m a realist. If I couldn’t fight, I’d say I can’t fight. If Steve Cunningham gives me a good fight then I can’t fight and I’m not gonna be the super champion that I’m saying I’m gonna be. I like to be real, I don’t want to con anybody and I can fight. I can fight southpaw, orthodox, in close, outwards, upside down – whatever you want to do, I can do. I throw combinations, I punch hard, and I’m an exciting fighter. So here we are, the savior of the heavyweight division.”
At 24, Fury has the brash confidence of youth, even if his body of work doesn’t yet live up to such claims. That’s not to say he’s been fed a steady diet of easy foes. He’s battled British vet John McDermott twice, unbeatens Rich Power, Marcelo Nascimento, Neven Pajkic, and Dereck Chisora, while also handing defeats to Martin Rogan and Kevin Johnson. That’s a resume few heavyweights in the modern era hold after 20 fights, and it’s why he has the confidence to travel across the pond to headline this weekend’s show at The Theater at Madison Square Garden against Cunningham. [Click Here To Read More]
The funny thing is, he’s probably right. And that has little to do with the way he fights, though at 20-0 with 14 KOs, he seems to have that part down, even if he’s still a bit raw around the edges. But what Manchester’s Fury has done better that anyone since countryman David Haye is bring a spark of excitement to a division that’s sorely needed it. And you get the impression that he’s only getting warmed up.
“There’s nobody who’s come, grabbed the division by the balls, and kicked it on its head,” he said. “And that’s where I come in. I’m not all talk; you get these British hype jobs and these European fighters and they can’t really fight. Let’s be real. I’m a realist. If I couldn’t fight, I’d say I can’t fight. If Steve Cunningham gives me a good fight then I can’t fight and I’m not gonna be the super champion that I’m saying I’m gonna be. I like to be real, I don’t want to con anybody and I can fight. I can fight southpaw, orthodox, in close, outwards, upside down – whatever you want to do, I can do. I throw combinations, I punch hard, and I’m an exciting fighter. So here we are, the savior of the heavyweight division.”
At 24, Fury has the brash confidence of youth, even if his body of work doesn’t yet live up to such claims. That’s not to say he’s been fed a steady diet of easy foes. He’s battled British vet John McDermott twice, unbeatens Rich Power, Marcelo Nascimento, Neven Pajkic, and Dereck Chisora, while also handing defeats to Martin Rogan and Kevin Johnson. That’s a resume few heavyweights in the modern era hold after 20 fights, and it’s why he has the confidence to travel across the pond to headline this weekend’s show at The Theater at Madison Square Garden against Cunningham. [Click Here To Read More]
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