Conor v Floyd was the previous high profile 'MMA guy debuts vs elite boxer'. Conor got smashed by a non-finishing, significantly smaller guy. It set the standard for what should be expected in such a scenario in people's minds when an MMA guy goes up against a giant HW, mediocre finisher or not.
Sure, Chisora, Whyte, Wilder may not be all-timers but they were established pros.
There was absolutely nothing unreasonable about thinking if Fury could stop these guys, he could stop an MMA guy on debut. I don't even see what is remotely controversial about such a statement.
