Tyson Fury deteriorated on the way to rematch with Usyk

Trainer Dave Coldwell says “The best Fury” is now gone at this late stage of Tyson Fury’s long 16-year professional career as he begins his December 21 rematch with unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.

Coldwell believes Tyson is now exhausted given the punishment former WBC champion Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) has taken in his three fights against power puncher Deontay Wilder and the brutal ninth round against Usyk (22- 0, 14 KOs) ) earlier this year on May 18.

Fury was out on his feet in the ninth round in the Usyk fight, and Coldwell believes that if it had been a different referee, he would have been knocked out. He feels if Usyk was the one getting hammered like that, the fight would have been stopped. This is the same view that many people have.

The recently turned 36-year-old Fury will come into his rematch with Usyk a battle-scarred fighter, punching away, and vulnerable to the shots he will be hit with in the Dec. 21 rematch in Riyadh.

Coldwell feels that Fury’s decline from the Wilder fight was masked by the opposition he fought. After the brutal third fight against Wilder on October 9, 2021, in which Fury was dropped twice, he took on three soft opponents in Dillian Whyte, Dereck Chisora ​​​​and Francis Ngannou.

The match against Ngannou last October showed that Fury’s striking resistance was compromised as he was dropped in the fight and won a controversial 10-round split decision against the novice.

“In Fury’s case that round nine was quite brutal. So, we have questions about him. Can he come back from that and in what way,” coach Dave Coldwell said Box Social on whether Tyson Fury can come back from the damage he suffered earlier this year against Oleksandr Usyk on May 18, when he was badly injured in the ninth round.

It was a clear knockout, or it should have been in the ninth round because Fury was pummeled by Usyk, and it should have been stopped.

“I believe the best of Fury is gone. The Wilder fights. He was punched by a guy with a big fist. The third Wilder fight was absolutely brutal. No one is ever the same after that fight. You are dropped off by Wilder. You get dropped by Ngannou, but they’re damaging shots,” Coldwell said.

It’s not just Fury’s punch resistance that’s gone. His legs are gone, and movement and reflexes have all slowed due to age. He has aged, and appears to be far older than his chronological age of 36.

Some people age faster than others, and Fury is a perfect example of that. He looked like a person in their late 40s or early 50s. In addition, he lost muscle in his upper body that he had during the best years of his career. At the kick-off conference this week, Fury’s upper body looked gaunt, and his face showed age.

“Then we saw Usyk as well. Usyk hits hard. I said that at cruiserweight,” Coldwell said. “People say he doesn’t hit hard. He hits hard enough to damage you. At cruiserweight he had a good knockout record. If he doesn’t hit hard, these big heavyweight monsters will walk right through him,” Coldwell said.

Usyk has always been a good puncher at cruiserweight, and we saw what he did against Tony Bellew. If a fighter can hit hard at cruiserweight, they are going to do the same at heavyweight.

The head does not change. The left hand that Usyk hurt Fury with in the ninth round would have done the same to any fighter in the division because he charged at the shot, and he wasn’t expecting it.