Tyson Fury outlined his five-fight plan for the coming months and years last week, including a pair of all-British blockbusters vs Anthony Joshua. But not everybody believes it will happen.
‘The Gypsy King’ is currently recovering from the cut that derailed his February 17 date for that world heavyweight title unification match vs brilliant Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk.
The showdown with Usyk has now been rescheduled for Saturday May 18 (again in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) but Fury is already looking ahead of that, way ahead. He is outlining his plan for his next FIVE fights – two against Usyk, followed by two against Joshua and a rematch with former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.
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One man who has serious doubts about that narrative though is former world super-middleweight king Carl Froch, who has been staunch in his criticism of ‘The Gypsy King’ recently. He believes the Morecambe man’s brilliant talents are starting to wane, and questions whether Fury – with a ton of money in the bank – has the desire to keep fighting for a number of years.
Froch on Fury five-fight plan
Talking about that Fury grand plan, he told talkSPORT: “There’s appetite for all of them fights. Usyk obviously, the rematch will depend on how that first one goes. If he gets badly beaten, outboxed, he might think that’s the end of it ‘cos I ain’t got the desire or the energy to get back into the ring’. He’s got enough money to sit on a desert island for the rest of his life. Where is he mentally
“So we move on from the Usyk one, you’ve got the Anthony Joshua fight. We still want to see Fury/AJ but that’s based on how the fight goes with AJ and Ngannou, and how Fury does with Usyk. Potentially two fights with Usyk.
“Then two fights with Anthony Joshua, I don’t think we’ll even get one fight with Anthony Joshua. But he’s talking about something that potentially could happen because that’s what we want to see. And then the rematch with Ngannou, and that will be dependent on how AJ does with Ngannou.
“So there’s too many variables, and not to mention the names that are involved. The fact that he’s talking about five fights and he’s now 35 years old and he fights once a year. He’s heading towards 40 years old, he struggles to get the weight off, he’s up and down mentally.”
The stat that shows Fury is on the slide?
Froch also produced what he claims is the stat which shows Fury is on the slide, what he claims is an erosion of that ability to feint and move as his boxing style gradually evolves.
“Regardless of what he [Fury] says, I’ll hit you with some facts and statistics, he’s slowing down massively. He used to throw 50 feints a round, always throwing feints, light on his feet, fast hands. Doesn’t even throw 15 feints, I’ve sat and watched him marking it down, like a saddo, like a tech geek. I’ve been marking down and watching him. He’s slowing down, he’s on the slide – he’s been on the floor five times in his last 70 rounds of boxing.
“The big problem is he’s getting hit a lot more now. And when you start getting hit at that weight, you have problems.”
“He’s sitting flat-footed, not throwing as many feints, getting hit with more shots, he’s getting on for 36 years old. He’s getting bigger and heavier. The desire’s not there – we saw that in the Netflix show. So has he got five more fights left with these top-level contenders? I’d say no.”
