The Tyson Fury Phenomenon: Out of Puff Already?
A little over 10 months ago, Luke Tyson Fury, a garrulous young giant from Manchester, elected to take an ambitious leap up in class against a hard luck heavyweight from Horndon in just his eighth professional fight. The opponent was “Big” John McDermott, a decent domestic big man who appeared to have an albatross draped around his sunken shoulders. After suffering his first pro loss thanks to a broken ankle, McDermott fell the wrong side of a pair of dubious decisions defeats to British champion Danny Williams, a few months either side of the 2008 festive season. The Fury fight would follow, and he completed a hat trick of contentious disappointments, this time with a scorecard so emotive it caused his promoter Frank Maloney to go into cardiac arrest at ringside.
In another black mark for British scoring methods, referee Terry O’Connor (the sole judge) returned a ridiculous 98-92 scorecard in favour of Fury after a desperately close scrap, one which had been skewed slightly by Sky TV’s coverage and projected over the airwaves as a clear win for McDermott. I scored the bout 5-4-1 in McDermott’s favour, in a bout which featured Fury’s pecking and poking balanced precariously against McDermott’s bigger and more eye catching single blows. Despite a number of hard to evaluate sessions, there were cries of robbery post fight, with Maloney leading the clarion calls in branding O’Connor “Dick Turpin”.
Tomorrow evening, at the alleged scene of the original crime, McDermott is afforded the chance to put the record straight after a number of rescheduled dates left the rematch in limbo. Rather than breaking the fight down (there really isn’t any need, both men are likely to fight in exactly the same manner as they did last time) I’m going to focus instead on the reasons I feel the Tyson Fury bandwagon is about to hit the skids.
- Overcompensation
You can’t beat being the guy looked upon as having been slighted by the judges first time around when looking to find favour with a replacement panel. It worked beautifully for Lennox Lewis in his rematch with Evander Holyfield back in ’99 after he was jibbed in New York earlier that annum. So potent was the stink kicked up in the aftermath, the second batch of scorers were almost obligated to compensate Lewis for the ills visited upon him by EugeniaWilliams. This they dutifully did, despite the fact that the rematch was close enough for argument. The judges here will be under the same subliminal pressure here to “do the right thing”.
- Home Advantage
Fury’s promoter Mick Hennessy is in professional purgatory right now. He’s a promoter attempting to operate with his hands tied behind his back due to his distinct lack of a television deal. His star men (Carl Froch and John Murray) have publicly aired their disgruntlement, whilst Fury finds himself fighting as the away man due to Hennessy’s lack of bargaining chips at the purse bidding table. The Brentwood Centre in Essex will present a prickling atmosphere on Friday as a seething mass of McDermott empathisers lift the roof every time he lands a punch, whilst deflecting attention away from Fury’s work by employing a deafening wall of indifference.
- Fury’s Conditioning
After their last encounter, it was evident to those in the know that Fury required a radical overhaul of his fitness regime (Hennessy himself admitted Fury was blowing out of his backside after four rounds). Only a fair puncher despite his leviathan proportions, Fury’s best game features accuracy and frequency, assets severely hindered when you’re lugging about the timber young Tyson carries with him into the ring. My spider senses have been tingling for weeks over this one and have been tilting me towards a McDermott victory, therefore, I was keen to view each man’s condition at this afternoon’s weigh-in to help confirm my thoughts. The result? McDermott came in close to his usual heft at 18st 2lb whilst Fury rolled up at a career heaviest 19st 4lb. That’s the best part of two stones heavier than he weighed for their first battle in September.
- Fury’s Training (or lack of).
Alarm bells multiplied when I delved into each fighter’s preparation. McDermott has been battered into shape by the persistent Jim McDonnell, driven to his own personal peak of fitness in pursuit of the biggest win of his career.
Fury, on the other hand, appeared stumped when questioned about his prep work and was reduced to muttering sheepishly that he’d jumped rope and hit a few bags. This is a man remember who has attempted to excuse shabby performances of late by revealing that he hadn’t trained correctly, whilst complaining about the dearth of quality sparring at his disposal. It’s an excuse he’s been keen to get in early this time around, admitting that he’s only managed a paltry ten rounds in the build up, with some of those coming against his brother Phill (a light middleweight novice).
If any more nails were needed to close the lid, news broke last week that Fury had severed his fledgling relationship with respected trainer Brian Hughes to complete preparations with his uncle Hughie. It would appear that Tyson isn’t overly fond of training, which is a heck of a problem in a sport as tough as boxing.
As of right now, McDermott is a mammoth 7/4 underdog to win the fight and can be grabbed at 3/1 to win over the distance. Fury will be game and tough and may even go for an unexpected early knockout if he doubts his ability to last the course (the bout will be fought over twelve rounds this time rather than ten). I feel it’s a gamble which is unlikely to pay off for him and that Fury is poised to learn the first important lesson of his career.
I’ll go with McDermott to register a huge upset and win over the distance, a victory which would leave question marks hanging over the very future of the domestic phenom with the headline grabbing ring name.
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