By Gabriel Princewill-
Tyson Fury ‘s 45 kg weight loss transformation for his comeback fight shows he is taking training seriously.
The Gypsy King is scheduled for a return on June 9 in Manchester He has not fought for over two years since he beat Wladimir Klitschko to capture all three of Klitschko’s title belts. After that, Fury was stripped of his IBF belt after refused to honour a mandatory and defend his IBF belt.
His team argued he was in a contract to fight a rematch with Wladimir Klitschko, but the IBF ruled any such contract to be illegal according to their rules. Fury’s life then took a dramatic turn for the worse when it was announced that a banned substance had been found in his system. The former world champion denied the allegation and was eventually cleared, with his boxing license reinstated.
His loss of 45 kg is an impressive progression to his undisciplined past. Fury’s ratings shot up phenomenally once the reality of his world championship victory sunk in. There is a growing body of thought in many sections of the boxing community who believe Fury’s agility and unorthodox style is good enough to beat Joshua. Many casual boxing fans are also beginning to form that view.
An opponent has still not been named for the eagerly-anticipated comeback, giving the impression that Fury’s handlers are proceeding very carefully in the choice of an opponent for their man. They can’t give him somebody dangerous, but neither can they present an utter pushover who presents no challenge whatsoever. A measured risk will need to be taken in selecting an opponent who will exercise Fury for his first comeback win, but not likely beat him.
47-year-old Shannon Briggs has presented himself as an interested candidate, and despite Briggs’s advancing age, it probably cannot be concluded that he cannot produce an upset if he were matched with Fury. However, an upset would not be very likely. Indeed, the risk of an upset may be one of the reasons that offer has not been accepted by Fury’s team.
On the other hand, Fury might not want to be seen in a hard fight with a 47-year-old, given his reputation for deriding fighters he considers old. Fury needs to find an opponent quickly, so the public no whomever it is that has been given ample time to prepare for the fight. His promoter, Frank Warren has already indicated he would want to prime his charge for a clash with Joshua by having him fight 4 times this year.
Tyson Fury will need to win all four come back fights, in order to eventually fight for Joshua’s belts, if Joshua is still world champion by then. Joshua is negotiations talks with both Deontey Wilder’s team and the team of WBA mandatory contender, Alexander Povetkin.
Given Fury’s accomplishments in the ring, he will be expected to fight people who can at least put up a fight. This is important to maintain some credence in his expressed confidence and the public confidence in his intrinsic abilities.
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