Prime Fury vs. Prime Vitaly

[borntoloseNOT]

I'd take take both Kilts in their prime over Fury, no disrespect to Fury at all. Not like Fury really seperated himself immensely on the landed shots vs Wlad who looked awful at 39. Yes, he shut his offense down and made him look bad, but a younger Wlad would have closed the distance, scored a KD or two. Vitali would have looked worse until he didn't and the fight was over, TKO stoppage. Wlad had insane power and was known to be deceptively fast. Vitali was awkward and way too strong to get in a fire fight with. I also think Vitali retiring with the shoulder injury against Byrd affected him, and he was going to be blood and guts from that point on.

 

[toogreen]

Vitali was a PURE outside fighter
Fury can fight outside AND fight inside

they both had bomb proof chins but Fury never quit before like Vitali

 

[Buddy Revell]

Didn't even have to give a second thought to this. Fury is at least as big if not bigger than Vitali and far more skilled. More versatile. The only clear advantage Vitali has is power. Fury is the more skilled, more durable, fighter.

He got up off the canvas from a Deontay Wilder 2-3, which is more impressive than anything Vitali has shown, and Fury wouldn't have been RTD'd by Chris Byrd (mind you, i rate Vitali top 20-30 All-time)

 

[JayE]

Didn't even have to give a second thought to this. Fury is at least as big if not bigger than Vitali and far more skilled. More versatile. The only clear advantage Vitali has is power. Fury is the more skilled, more durable, fighter.

He got up off the canvas from a Deontay Wilder 2-3, which is more impressive than anything Vitali has shown, and Fury wouldn't have been RTD'd by Chris Byrd (mind you, i rate Vitali top 20-30 All-time)

Tyson Fury is more durable than Vitali Klitschko? Based on what? He was down against a light-hitting cruiser and has been knocked cold. Vitali was never knocked down in his career.

Have you seen the Byrd fight? Do you know why Vitali retired? What about that fight tells you anything about how Fury/Vitali might go?

 

[Buddy Revell]

Tyson Fury is more durable than Vitali Klitschko? Based on what? He was down against a light-hitting cruiser and has been knocked cold. Vitali was never knocked down in his career.

Have you seen the Byrd fight? Do you know why Vitali retired? What about that fight tells you anything about how Fury/Vitali might go?

Based on the fact that he lost fights against chris byrd and Lennox Lewis based on an arm injury during the former and orbital vagina in the later. Vital indeed had a great chin and was tough as nails, but his body did fail him in a couple of fights. That's a fact. and if iirc, he was roughly the same age as Tyson when he lost both those fights. Now, just to be clear, i'm not implying that fury beats vitali cause he's the harder man. I'm saying that Fury is bigger and more skilled, and a pretty freaking tough man himself. The bigger, better man is fury.

 

[JayE]

Based on the fact that he lost fights against chris byrd and Lennox Lewis based on an arm injury during the former and orbital vagina in the later. Vital indeed had a great chin and was tough as nails, but his body did fail him in a couple of fights. That's a fact. and if iirc, he was roughly the same age as Tyson when he lost both those fights. Now, just to be clear, i'm not implying that fury beats vitali cause he's the harder man. I'm saying that Fury is bigger and more skilled, and a pretty freaking tough man himself. The bigger, better man is fury.

Freak injuries aren't really a great reason to favour someone when we are talking about prime for prime fantasy fights, unless you're banking on Fury winning by Vitali suffering an unrelated injury. I really don't see an argument for saying that Fury takes a better punch than Vitali. You can argue that Fury has great recovery, but he's been down several times in his career and was dropped hard by a light punching CW. There's also not much to say he's a bigger man than Vitali. Vitali is bigger than Wlad and Wlad and Fury looked quite similar in size. I certainly wouldn't be banking on the idea that Fury would be the stronger man in there.

 

[Buddy Revell]

Freak injuries aren't really a great reason to favour someone when we are talking about prime for prime fantasy fights, unless you're banking on Fury winning by Vitali suffering an unrelated injury. I really don't see an argument for saying that Fury takes a better punch than Vitali. You can argue that Fury has great recovery, but he's been down several times in his career and was dropped hard by a light punching CW. There's also not much to say he's a bigger man than Vitali. Vitali is bigger than Wlad and Wlad and Fury looked quite similar in size. I certainly wouldn't be banking on the idea that Fury would be the stronger man in there.

I'll come off the injury thing, as it's besides the point for the purposes of this exercise anyway. But Fury is the more fluid athlete and also more technical than Vitali. Don't see how Vitali would boss him, providing that fury actually shows up in tip top shape and with his head on straight (which is one thing in Vitali's favor. He was much more mentally stable than Fury).

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

This forum has a prime Vitali well ahead in the poll here but BLH's results are quite different. Nearly 1,600 votes so far in their poll and they've got it a dead even fight (it was exactly 50/50 this morning). Most fans see this as a true pick'em fight, a toss-up.
Fantasy Boxing Matchup: Tyson Fury vs Vitali Klitschko

The latest Bad Left Hook poll results have Fury pulling slightly ahead

 

[JayE]

I'll come off the injury thing, as it's besides the point for the purposes of this exercise anyway. But Fury is the more fluid athlete and also more technical than Vitali. Don't see how Vitali would boss him, providing that fury actually shows up in tip top shape and with his head on straight (which is one thing in Vitali's favor. He was much more mentally stable than Fury).

I wouldn't necessarily expect Vitali to dominate him, but having a fair bit of success boxing Deontay Wilder on the backfoot (while still getting dropped twice) and consistently outboxing Vitali Klitschko are considerably different things. A guy like Vitali was levels above Wilder, and Fury was far from dominant taking a pure boxing approach against Wilder. Vitali is bigger, has a drastically higher volume and a much more diverse offense than a guy like Wilder. He's also not a guy who Fury, an average puncher for a HW, is likely to deter.

I'm also not sure if Fury wants to meet Vitali in the center of the ring and force him on the backfoot, as he did in the Wilder rematch to such success. A firefight with a guy like Vitali is a tough proposition. Fury has risen to the occasion a few times in his career, but Vitali would be a much bigger challenge than anything he has faced.

 

[Deaths Head]

It's not virtually impossible to throw straight punches just because a fighter has a very long reach. Short straight punches exist you know. Fury was throwing most of those wide punches to bypass Wilder's high guard when he shells up when under fire. Hell, if you want a film study to prove that then let me know. There's already likely a few out there. It's not because Fury can't throw much tighter straight punches it was due to the gameplan he had for Wilder after his team studied his habits/tendencies.

What fights does Fury throw without having an arch from distance besides Hammer where I caught maybe two straight punches shooting directly from the inside ? Like I said he’s to long to not bend his elbow outward , he fought the same as he always did against Wilder ,it was actually easier because Wilder cannot take a punch and doesn’t throw back when fired on . Wilder is lucky it went 7 because I also think in round 3 the referee bought Wilder some time .

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

What fights does Fury throw without having an arch from distance besides Hammer where I caught maybe two straight punches shooting directly from the inside ? Like I said he’s to long to not bend his elbow outward , he fought the same as he always did against Wilder ,it was actually easier because Wilder cannot take a punch and doesn’t throw back when fired on . Wilder is lucky it went 7 because I also think in round 3 the referee bought Wilder some time .

I mean, I can name fights like this just off the top of my head. Not only are these punches straight, they're sharp, too. Just like Vitali who would also shoot from the hip, Fury does it as well. That last straight left painted Schwarz's face red and snapped his head back. Interesting that Fury can't throw them that way though.

It's also worth noting that according to BoxRec Fury only has a 2" reach advantage on Wilder (who also can throw straight right hands without looping them over the top) and only 3" over Joshua who has tight straight punches. Distance management alone kills your theory. But, continue to believe it for all I care.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

@Deaths Head
Luke Thomas may be an idiot but even he (an MMA analyst) understands why Fury was throwing so many of those wide looping punches rather than tight straight punches. Fury's gameplan called for that specific adjustment to break through Wilder's single line of defense (cover-up/high guard defense).

Fury was throwing most of those wide punches to bypass Wilder's high guard when he shells up when under fire. Hell, if you want a film study to prove that then let me know. There's already likely a few out there. It's not because Fury can't throw much tighter straight punches it was due to the gameplan he had for Wilder after his team studied his habits/tendencies.

[Timestamped]

 

[Bamboozled]

Vitali is such an underrated fighter, people think his awkward punches were flaws, but he was finding gaps and getting in any way he could to set up a right straight. Dude got it in and kept it going. Just keep it up then slam em with that piston.

 

[listrahtes]

Vitali's only advantage over Wlad was his chin

That is comical in how wrong it is. They have very different styles with very different strenghts / weaknesses but the huge difference wasnt chin but mentality.

Wlad was mentally weak and tended to fold under pressure. Even panicking. He had to build his whole style around that.

Vitali is the opposite. You frustrate Wlad he gets weaker, you frustrate Vitali he gets even more agressive.

Vitalis inside and mid distance game was much better because of that (not that it was really good he prefered fighting from the outside). Wladimir had the better technical skills but besides his jab mostly couldnt implement them and had to rely on illegal wrestling tactics with the help of bought out refs to prevent infight.

A prime Wlad could dominate through his jab and would have beaten Fury.

Vitali looks much sloppier but actually is the better more well rounded boxer.

 

[listrahtes]

Fury would have a good chance of beating Vitali but imo the Wilder fights hugely overstate Furys abilities. We simply dont want to see how bad Wilder really is at boxing.

Fury looked like Sugar Ray Leonard in there but that was also because Wilder moved like a spastic with footwork a beginner would get extra training from his coach. Overextending all the time, no idea how he should go backwards under pressure it was really comical in times how clueless he was and is lacking many basic skills.

 

[Kkenway]

Fury in a close one

 

[Jonny Ninja]

That is comical in how wrong it is. They have very different styles with very different strenghts / weaknesses but the huge difference wasnt chin but mentality.

Wlad was mentally weak and tended to fold under pressure. Even panicking. He had to build his whole style around that.

Vitali is the opposite. You frustrate Wlad he gets weaker, you frustrate Vitali he gets even more agressive.

Vitalis inside and mid distance game was much better because of that (not that it was really good he prefered fighting from the outside). Wladimir had the better technical skills but besides his jab mostly couldnt implement them and had to rely on illegal wrestling tactics with the help of bought out refs to prevent infight.

A prime Wlad could dominate through his jab and would have beaten Fury.

Vitali looks much sloppier but actually is the better more well rounded boxer.

I think wlad is the better boxer and clearly should be higher rated based in his career. That said I’d pick vitali in a head to head almost every fight

i also think fury beats a prime wlad. He is just all wrong for him. He’s not as long as Tyson, he was too big to bully and control, and wlad is averse to taking risks when he can be countered. He has to fight completely out of his comfort zone to beat him.

 

[I am your real dad]

Vitali probably.

It would have been a great contest though.

 

[JayE]

I think wlad is the better boxer and clearly should be higher rated based in his career. That said I’d pick vitali in a head to head almost every fight

i also think fury beats a prime wlad. He is just all wrong for him. He’s not as long as Tyson, he was too big to bully and control, and wlad is averse to taking risks when he can be countered. He has to fight completely out of his comfort zone to beat him.

Wlad with Manny Steward against Fury would be an interesting proposition. One would assume that Steward would have some ideas how to prepare and would be undoubtedly yelling at Wlad to let his hands go all night in the corner. We never really saw the peak version of Wlad under Steward face someone who was able to make him all that uncomfortable.

 

[defjaam]

We never really saw the peak version of Wlad under Steward face someone who was able to make him all that uncomfortable.

Tony Thompson, first fight... He was on his way to defeat Wladimir.