Many people have started asking questions of Tyson Fury in light of his last fight, and one Hall of Famer is now doubting his chin.
Lineal and WBC champion Fury remains unbeaten in the ring and has often breezed through fights. It was his defining trilogy with American heavy hitter Deontay Wilder that really put him on a pedestal as the best heavyweight out there because he showed skill, heart and determination by the bucket load to come through with two wins and one much-disputed draw.
Since then he has had more prosaic wins against fellow Brits like Derek Chirsoa and Dillian Whyte which only heightened his reputation. However, an October showdown with Francis Ngannou in which the boxing novice managed to push Fury across all 10 rounds and even knocked him down in the third means people are now starting to question if he has peaked.
Fury has fought 35 times in his career and won 24 of those by knockout, but has himself been knocked down seven times in all. On each occasion, he has risen from the canvas.
Fury may well have to call on his chin and famous powers of recovery when he faces Oleksandr Usyk on February 17.
Speaking to Pro Boxing Fans, retired boxing champion and Hall of Famer Barry McGuigan has now weighed in on the issue and questions Fury’s chin.
“Let’s be honest, Tyson has been on the floor a lot of times so he hasn’t got the greatest chin. He deserved to win [the Ngannou fight] but it wasn’t impressive. He let himself down with that performance and so you take that in relation to Usyk and you would have always made him favourite in that fight but less so after that. It’s very much and even money fight.”
One man who has voiced concerns about the fight with Usyk is Fury’s father John.