British boxing has perpetually competed at the highest level in a number of weight classes, but it’s only since the 90s, with the injection of Sky Sports money, that its domestic fights started gaining attention internationally. With the likes of Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank, Steve Collins and Michael Watson lighting up the middleweight division with fierce, spiteful contests that also carried the credence of world titles, and Sky pumping its money and marketing nous into every fight, it put British boxing on the world stage.
Despite that success, we’ve not really had a meaty collection of heavyweights to do battle in the same way since perhaps Lennox Lewis vs Frank Bruno, all the way back in 93. Now, with the ‘glamour’ division lighting up again in a way it hasn’t really done since that decade, a large part due to Anthony Joshua becoming such a huge ticket, we’re going to be having domestic heavyweight fights with titles on the line and keen global audiences on a regular basis.
First up is the sell out clash between Dillian Whyte versus Tyson Fury on the 23rd April. On paper, it’s a fight that many see as a walk in the park for Fury, with him coming off a thunderous win against Detonay Wilder in the last match of their trilogy, while Whyte’s last fight was him avenging a brutal knockout by Alexander Povetkin with a straightforward TKO, with Povetkin retiring from the sport soon after.
In terms of style and physique, Whyte isn’t a million miles away from another British boxing legend, Derek Chisora, who has also fought Fury twice. They both come forward, keep their heads down, throw big looping hooks and can take the hardest of punches all night long.
So it’s pretty instructive to look at the two Fury vs Chisora fights and see just how Whyte might get on. In the first, much closer fight, Chisora did exactly what he (and Whyte) normally does, and even though Fury did win the match on points, he gave him a really hard time, constantly connecting with hooks, and often mixing them up between head and body. Fury, being the taller fighter, was often caught unawares by these punches, as they sailed in a semi circle motion from the shoulder of Chisora, up over Fury’s guard, and into his face.
If Whyte, who is arguably a harder puncher now than Chisora was then, can connect with a few of these when he comes forward, and keeps his head movement sharp and away from Fury’s jab, he could cause Fury some real problems. Yes, Fury got up from that incredible Wilder right cross at the end of their first fight, but as good as his foot and head movement is, he’s not in any way infallible when it comes to being rocked, or knocked down.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-7xXWd87Dc&ab_channel=Haymaker
Saying all that, Fury did have a second match with Chisora, and, if Fury was being smart, which he usually is, then against Whyte his strategy would be a lot more like his second fight with Chisora than his first. Fury, probably remembering how much he didn’t enjoy any of Chisora’s spiteful punches at close range, kept the fight, literally and figuratively at arms length. Using his superior reach advantage and movement to skip in and out of range, he jabbed Chisora all night long, with little to no return. In the end, as brave as Chisora was, the fight was incredibly one sided, so much so that they had to pull him out at the end of the 10th round, with Fury barely getting a scratch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLIFQuZbDvY&ab_channel=BTSport
If Fury can follow this plan to the letter, I think that, as boring as it will make the fight, it will be a fairly easy win for him. Shorter fighters can cause taller opponents problems if they can close the space between them and their opposition with feints and head movement, then work the body and throw their heavier, shorter hooks and uppercuts up close. But, unless Fury decides to go all guns blazing and come forward like he did in the second Wilder fight, he’ll stick to boxing at range, and use his natural physical and technical strengths to get a comfortable points win or late TKO.
Heart says Whyte by stoppage in the 8th. Head says Fury by decision.
Keeping things in the heavyweight division, one fighter who will be very soon challenging for world titles, most likely when the current elite crop of Oleksandr Usyk, Wilder, Joshua and Fury (who are all in their mid 30s) retire, is the 22 year old Jared ‘Big Baby’ Anderson. An American fighter with a strong amatuer pedigree, he was snapped up by the biggest boxing promoter in the US, Top Rank, before he even made his professional debut. Since then he’s gone on to win 11 out of 11 fights, all by knockout, with the longest someone’s ever lasted with him before being taken out being a mere six rounds.
In terms of style, you can instantly tell Anderson has a long amateur background because of his footwork and defence. Even though he’s six foot four and weighs 17 stone, he really does ‘move like a middleweight’, because of how quickly he evades punches and steps in and out of range, often setting up attacks with a hard, repetitive and accurate jab. In terms of movement and power, he kind of reminds me of a more naturally bigger Evander Holyfield, but that can smell blood and finish a fight like a younger Anthony Joshua, with often incredibly painful looking right crosses and brutal hooks ripping through defences.
As usual when someone is deemed a ‘future star’ by a big promotional outfit like Top Rank, he’s mainly fought fairly weak opposition so far, although his last fight was against someone who was undefeated in 22 and he still destroyed him in two rounds, with constant jabs to the head and body until he finished him with a typically thudding hook. The problem with the heavyweight division is that it’s harder to get an accurate sense of how good a prospect is because there are, to be honest, a lot more mediocre fighters than most if not all other divisions, but he keeps on his current trajectory I’d see a world title chance in the next two years, at the latest.
Get a remote PT for just £65 per month. Cancel anytime.
Let's do it
