THAT a fight between John Fury and Dana White wouldn’t be the worst fight in recent times says more about the plummeting standards of combat sports than it does the fighting prowess of Fury and White at this stage in their lives.
Unlike KSI and Logan Paul, who recently made their pro debuts in a YouTube superfight, Fury and White at least have some fighting history and good old fighting blood. (Not that that’s a solid enough reason for either man to find themselves near a pair of gloves or a ring anytime soon, of course.)
Fury, a former pro heavyweight, shoots from the hip and didn’t take too kindly to some recent comments White made about his son. Answering the question of whether Tyson Fury might one day become a success in the UFC (having been linked with a fight against current UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic), White scoffed at the very idea and said it was one that would end badly.
Fury’s father, in turn, says Dana White will end the same way if he continues to speak in such a manner.
“I could probably smash Dana White with one punch,” John told iFL TV.
“How can he write my son off like that? Let him talk to me like that. I’ll fight him. Keep my son’s name out of your mouth.
“How does he know about smashing anybody when Tyson comes from a smashing family, you know what I’m saying? When I can probably smash Dana White with one punch, you know what I’m saying?”
“So how can he write my son off like that? You can’t write a man off with Tyson’s ability or heart or will to win, and he knows that. He’s talking stupid.
“Let him talk to me like that. I’ll fight him. Match me up with him tonight, you know what I’m saying?
“Because I believe I’m the best 54-year-old man in the world. I’m the fittest, I know that, and I’m the best 54-year-old man on the planet.
“I’m going to prove it anytime, anywhere, for free or for money.
“So let him take that in your pipe and smoke it. I mean that, mate. Keep my son’s name out of your mouth. If it’s not good, don’t talk about him.”
Weeks ago Nigel Benn claimed he was the fittest 55-year-old in the world before pulling out of a scheduled November fight against fellow former world champion Sakio Bika.
John Fury, though, won’t be going down the same path. Instead, one hopes he is simply reacting passionately – the only way he knows how to react – to someone disparaging his son’s (MMA) fighting abilities. Because, regardless of the validity of White’s claims, and they’re probably valid, fathers are naturally passionate, especially in the fight game, and John Fury is a more passionate man than your average. He is, after all, the head of a “smashing family”.
Another fighting man, Billy Joe Saunders, says he is prepared to chase Mexican superstar Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez all the way to light-heavyweight if it means securing what he believes he deserves.
Saunders, a natural middleweight and former WBO champion at that weight, is currently enjoying his reign as WBO super-middleweight champion, though flattered to deceive a defence against Marcelo Coceres on Saturday (November 9). The Hatfield man, clearly in need of a serious test, said the performance in Los Angeles didn’t warrant a fight against the likes of Canelo and Daniel Jacobs but that clearly won’t stop his pursuit of them.
Saunders, 29-0 (14), told Sky Sports: “It’d be a very tough challenge but there is something inside of me that I’ve known since day one when I turned pro. I knew our paths would cross and I’m 100% sure that I’d beat him.
“I might move up to 175lbs and then I become mandatory to him. He either fights me or vacates. Give me a fair playing field and I know I have the beating of him. I do have the lock to undo Canelo. I’m feeling the best I have, I’m ready to rock and roll, I want these big fights.
“It’s the fight that hundred percent I want next. I want Canelo because they keep saying he’s the best. Floyd Mayweather is the only man to beat him, but I know I can be the second man to beat him.”
It’s a statement hard to take seriously given Saunders’ recent form but, equally, if you know anything about Billy Joe Saunders, and the talent he possesses, you’ll know he’s far more likely to have fun and look good against someone like Canelo Alvarez than he is against someone like Marcelo Coceres. As bizarre as it sounds, it’s true all the same, a suggestion every bit as confusing as the man himself.
