Paul Murphy-
Ricky Hatton has gone out to promote Tyson Fury as the best with or without a belt, Danny Benn, the outspoken brother of Nigel Benn has said.
Benn was responding to a statement by former Welter weight champion, Ricky Hatton who said Tyson Fury deserves to be recognised as the best heavyweight on the planet.Former two-weight world champion, Hatton, who is on Fury’s team told talkSPORT that Fury, 30, is the man at the top of the division, with or without the belts to back it up.
However, Danny Benn, who is credited with taking his brother, former world champion, Nigel Benn to a boxing gym to box said Hatton was promoting Fury because they both come from Manchester. Benn, who has in the past appeared at amateur boxing gyms in the country to motivate and assist in training youths, said Hatton’s promotional skills should not be used to devalue the benchmark for identifying the best in the division.
Benn, who is known in many boxing circles because of his brother and his own long and successful amateur career said: ‘
‘Fury has to get the belts before he can be seen as the best.Coming close does not equate achieving the goal. I believe Fury is a better boxer than Wilder because he moves fast for a big man, he hits and moves. Wilder tends to leave himself open, but he punches like a mule. He is fast , athletic, and does the job. Fury has to beat Wilder in their rematch to claim being the best. You can’t just ignore a main title like the WBC which is there for a reason”
”Hatton can say he believes Fury is the best, but he can’t say Fury is the best with or without the belt. That’s a false statement whatever way you look at it. Fury has to beat Wilder in their rematch to be the best”. Benn had originally picked Wilder to beat Fury, but just before the fight changed his mind and picked Fury to win.
I saw the fight, and it was a good fight. I was more impressed with Fury in that fight than with Wilder, but Wilder dropped him twice and the fight was called a draw. No matter how much anyone thinks Fury should have won, he didn’t win, and that’s that. It was a draw. Fury boxed well, but didn’t try to stop Wilder at any point in the fight. He continued:
”When everyone thought that McDermott should have got the decision against Fury, nobody said McDermott actually beat Fury. Fury was the official winner of that first fight, and McDermott had to try and win the rematch to make his point, but failed. Fury has to beat the best to become the best”.
A similar argument is used to defend Fury by his backers who say that until Fury is beaten, he is the lineal heavyweight champion. In other words ‘ the man who beat the man has not beaten’. But Fury has to beat the man now to be the best. Hatton said: “I think he deserves to be recognised as the best heavyweight. Brit icon Hatton, 30, told talkSPORT fellow Mancunian Fury, 30, is the man at the top of the division, with or without the belts to back it up.
He said: “I think he deserves to be recognised as the best heavyweight.
“He might not have the belts, but I think anyone or any governing body would sit there and say he’s the man at the minute. Hatton’s comments will annoy Wilder, who holds the WBC belt. Their fight in Los Angeles ended in a draw , but most people believe Fury won. The fact he didn’t actually win the belt means he is not officially the best. Until he beats the best, he is a contender for the best position.
Fury’s return to the ring after two and a half years of battling depression made him appreciated in many circles . His good performance against Deontey Wilder spread his appeal among many of his fans and ordinary Brits. However,
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Fury came close but did not succeed in taking the WBC belts from Deontey Wilder when the pair met in Los Angeles last year. Two knock downs by Wilder including a concussive one in the 10th round which Fury miraculously recovered from kept Wilder’s belt alive in the end. Wilder’s team told The Eye of Media.Com that they believe Wilder deserved to win their fight . An opportunity for an early rematch between the pair was aborted when U.S promoter, Bob Arum came on the scene.