TYSON FURY could hold his own in any era and would provide a hard night’s work for all time greats like Muhammad Ali, George Foreman and Rocky Marciano. That is the opinion of former WBA heavyweight champion David Haye, who believes the Gypsy King’s attributes would make him difficult for any heavyweight in history to pin down.
Fury is back in Las Vegas this weekend as he takes on undefeated Swede Otto Wallin just three months after dispatching the over-matched Tom Schwarz on the same famous Strip of Nevada desert. Wallin, 20-0, is not expected to provide too much resistance to Fury as he plots his route to a rematch with WBC champion Deontay Wilder.
Should Fury come through unscathed, he is expected to face the heavy-hitting American on February 22 providing Wilder beats Luis Ortiz in their rematch later this year. Victory over Wilder would secure former WBO, WBA and IBF heavyweight champion Fury the only major belt which has so far eluded him. That would put him in the elite club of fighters who have won the lot.
And Haye, who is here in Las Vegas on commentary duty, says Fury would not be out of place in any of boxing’s golden heavyweight eras and is already on his own path to greatness.
“He would be a hard night for the greatest heavyweights,” said Haye, who twice pulled out of scheduled fights with Fury due to injury.
“Very few people would find it easy to fight someone so elusive, ask Deontay Wilder.
“Someone as big, awkward, ungainly, unpredictable, it’s not an easy guy to make a game plan for. It really isn’t. Particularly because he hasn’t shown any weaknesses.
“He has shown he has a chin against one of the hardest punches ever as Wilder hit him with a huge shot twice. A right hand, then on the way down a left hook which should have well and truly put him to sleep.
“He has proven he has a world class chin. He is ticking a lot of the boxes. I feel that he is young enough to really make a legacy. He can go on – if he continues to win these big fights – he can go down as one of the greats.
“The fact he has already beaten Wladimir Klitschko, the fact he has beaten pretty much every man he has faced means he is going down that route.
“He has done everything humanly possibly other than getting the win against Deontay Wilder but Lennox lewis got a draw aganst Evander Holyfield and that hasn’t harmed his legacy – most people put him top five or three of all-time. I think he is in the middle of his career.
“I think he has seven or eight years of good fights ahead and I definitely feel you cannot judge a fighter on his greatness compared to other retired fighters whilst they’re still active.”
Tyson Fury takes on Otto Wallin live on BT Sport Box Office this Saturday. The fight can be watched through BT Sport Box Office on BT TV, Virgin TV, Sky, online via the web or the BT Sport Box Office App.
