Two big British names were in action last night, one, a bona fide boxing superstar in the making, the other, standing on the cusp of the big time, but not there yet.
The former was of course Amir Khan, British boxing’s rising star, more on him later. The latter, was Tyson Fury. For those of you on the other side of the pond who don’t know about Fury yet, he is a name that is likely to be heard of very soon, as it seems that, despite his lack of fights, and years (he is only 22, a rarity for an active and prominent heavyweight these days), he may well get a crack at Wladimir Klitchsko. Such is the paucity of marketable names in the heavyweight division these days, that even a 15-0 fighter who has just stepped up to domestic belt winning status, is a likely candidate for a shot at one of the two dominant brothers.
Fury is from an Irish traveller community, and his father was a boxer. The fighting instinct is strong in the Fury’s, who seem well named, given that his father has just been sentenced to 11 years in jail for gouging a man’s eye out in a fight. I intend no disrespect to Fury or his father here, it is what it is, but indicates that there’s definitely a ruthless streak in the bloodline. At 6′ 9″ and in excess of 250 lbs, Fury is an imposing physical specimen, he is talkative, engaging, at times highly articulate, in other words, he’s a marketing man’s dream.
Fury was fighting Derek Chisora on this occasion, for the British and Commonwealth title belts. Chisora was the champion, having acquired the strap by defeating Danny Williams who in truth was a shadow of his former self. During the ring walks, it was Fury however who looked like the champion. Smiling, nodding, winking, touching gloves with well wishers, he oozed confidence.
Chisora’s entrance, by contrast, was extremely bizarre. First off, there was the music. Chisora, pulled a last minute stunt, changing his choice of song to ‘Black velvet band.’ It’s a traditional northern Irish song, familiar to me as my family are from Armagh ? my mother used to sing it to me. If it was meant to be brinkmanship designed to out-psych Fury, it failed abjectly. If anything it indicated that Chisora was marching to the beat of Fury’s drum rather than the other way around. Fury smiled and shook his head perplexedly at this turn of events. Rightly so.
Then there was Chisora’s garb as he entered the ring. Chisora wore a bizarre union jack mask, which was surmounted by a hooded union jack robe. The effect was that Chisora’s face was entirely obscured. The effect was to give the impression of a man hiding from Fury, the crowd, himself, or all three. When they faced off, Fury made a lunge toward him, and then laughed in Chisora’s face. Fury looked every inch the champion already. Still, confidence is not enough on it’s own to win fights.
There were indications before the fight, that all was not well with Chisora. He had seemed disinterested in pre fight interviews, having previously been very vocal during the build up to other fights, he barely seemed to exist in the pre fight hype for this one. One reason for this may be that he had been banking on getting a shot at Wladimir Klitchsko. Chisora effectively got used as a bargaining chip by the younger Klitchsko to force Haye into signing a contract. Twice the fight was posited, twice cancelled. However, Wladimir had already indicated that he may give the winner of this fight a shot, and this was Chisora’s chance to secure that bout ? yet he came in at a career heaviest 261 lbs, 16 1/2 lbs heavier than his last fight. Clearly, he had not got motivated correctly for this bout, and it was about to show.
At the bell, Chisora closed the gap quickly, and Fury started fast, throwing a lot of wild, winging hooks that missed. Fury drew first blood with a right-left-right, and then left hook to the body. He smiled as they landed. Fury was talking to Chisora, goading him, he punctuated the round with another left hook to the body. Fury won the round ? and easily. At the rounds end, a look of bemusement seemed to cross Chisora’s face.
All that changed in the second. Chisora came out of the blocks quicker, weaving under Fury’s jab, Fury unleashed a pitter-pat combination which kept him off balance, and then held when he closed. Then Chisora landed his first significant shot of the fight, a massive left hook, which knocked Fury backward, smelling blood, Chisora poured forward, whaling away with overhand rights and left hooks. The next two missed, fury looked a little stunned, but fired back, also missing. Fury landed a body shot and a left-right, before eating a massive right hand flush on the jaw, another left hook crashed home, and Fury careered into the ropes. Fury held on to get some respite, the round ended, Chisora had made a statement. He seemed to be the man who had the power.
Now watching the replays, it was clear that actually Fury was never wobbled, or hurt. His eyes were clear at all times, and he fired back quickly. Fury stated in the post fight interview that he has never been dropped, wobbled, or even stunned as an amateur or professional, and after having watched the replays, I believe him. However, Chisora showed that he had the power of the two men.
Really, that was pretty much Chisora’s last hurrah. He spent the remainder of the fight looking for one big shot to end the fight. As the bout wore on, his lack of conditioning, meant his output dwindled more and more. As early as the end of round 3, Chisora when asked by his corner what he was doing, responded ‘I don’t know.’
The pattern was set, every round, Chisora would start with a little more alacrity, after his corner remonstrated with him to jab and to let his hands go. Then, as the round wore on, Fury would take over. He was totally dominated. Fury was so in control he spent large portions of the fight talking to well wishers in the crowd, even talking to friends from his own corner. An action which brought immediate admonishment from vastly experienced corner-man Dean Powell and his uncle Hughie Fury, who is his full time trainer.
On the rare occasions where Chisora jabbed he had some success, his poor conditioning only allowed him to fight in spurts. At the end of the 7th, Chisora’s corner threatened to pull him out. He had a final last hurrah in the 10th throwing twenty massive hooks in 10 seconds, which pinned Fury in the corner, sure, there were a few scary moments, but Fury soon established control again. Fury himself was tired, but Chisora was now spent. Fury, himself stated he was tired after the 8th and he couldn’t put the finishing touch to the bout.
At the end, the result was never in doubt, the scores of 117-112, 117-112, 118-111 were if anything generous to Chisora. I gave him a single round and two even, making 120-110.
Fury was generous in victory, consoling Chisora at the end. Fury was even congratulating him during the fight, nodding approvingly in the rounds where Chisora managed to land big shots on him, he seemed to relish every moment. Fury turned in an excellent performance and was a worthy winner and new British Champion.
First the positives about Fury. He is big, uses his height well, he has a massive 85 inch reach, has a great chin and great powers of recovery and has a tremendous will to win, allied with confidence. He also has rather quick hands. He said after the fight, ‘it wouldn’t have mattered who you put in front of me tonight, the result would have been the same.’ I beg to differ, even an in shape Chisora may well have made his night difficult, but it’s commendable to have such self belief. Despite saying he was tired in the 8th, Fury also showed a prolific work-rate for such a big man.
