Photos: Sumio Yamada
Judges Tim Cheatham, Eric Cheek and Don Trella all had Tyson Fury winning rounds seven through eleven and Otto Wallin winning round twelve. However during the first six rounds, only in round four (for Fury) did all three judges agree. At the midway point, Trella had it even at 57-57, Cheeks had Fury ahead 58-56, and Cheatham gave Fury the first five rounds for a 59-55 edge. Cheatham’s final 118-110 tally (giving Wallin only two rounds) seemed a bit off. Trella’s 116-112 score seemed about right. Cheeks split the difference at 117-111.
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I am so sick of the hype surrounding Fury. In the history of the sport, he ranks up there as one of the most nonathletic looking fighters ever. He punches like an amateur, moves around like a giraffe. He fights fighters who historically would be considered “bums”, and barely beats them. These are pathetic times in heavyweight boxing history when a pug like Fury is being propped up as “great” and a “champion”.
And sad to say, he was beating wilder and got a draw with him.
The heavyweight division has always been the casuals division. It is designed as the glamour division with two big guys fighting one another, but they can’t fight. Enjoy the small to middleweight guys, as that is where the real skill is.
There you go with your casuals crap again.
JJ: I also have my reservations about Chris’ calling everyone a “casual” but his point here is true and valid: most casual boxing fans only care about the heavyweight division, and within that division, only about the top 3-5 fighters.
He’s right – the boxing-wise much more interesting and skilled fights are usually in the lower divisions.
Fortunately, once in a while there are at least a few heavyweights that have skill and power. On that note, I am looking forward to Usyk’s first fight(s) in the division.
Fury may not be a big puncher, but he has skill. Still, he is 31 now, that is old for boxing. Gerry Cooney was old when he fought Michael Spinks, right before his 31st birthday. And he was inactive for a long time before the Spinks fight. Spinks switched up to southpaw and threw a combo Cooney wasn’t ready for, and he never recovered. As for casual fans, I watch heavyweight fights when I can, but everything has gone to ESPN+, DAZN, etc., so I don’t see many big fights live, no matter what division. I can’t name big name heavyweights, besides the top 5 guys. Ruiz, Wilder, Ortiz, Fury, Joshua. What else is there? Usyk, Kownacki, and Wallin. Parker, maybe Chisora, and big baby steroids, and questionable Whyte. Oscar Rivas and Takam. Casuals probably know half of those guys.
The 118-110 score wasn’t bad. Neither was 116-112. I could see both scores. But Fury dominated the fight, the cut just made the fight look more interesting.
It’s hard to tell what to take away from this fight. On one hand, Fury was able to battle through adversity (but we already saw that in the Wilder fight). He still got hit a lot more than he should have, but he was fighting a southpaw, which could make things more difficult. I’m not sure it gives a better picture of the Wilder fight, except insofar as the cuts. If the cuts don’t heal properly, that can become a major issue. If Otto Wallin fights someone else of a better class, I think we could get a better idea of the Wilder-Fury fight based on how Wallin fares.
Cheatham – pronounced cheat-em – is appropriately named.
Most good boxers I knewdidnt fit the jock type mold
He looks like Ol ‘Enery against Ali in some of thise pics.
Fury is´nt a ballet-dancer. It seldom looks pretty. Against Klitscho he was the winner in a very unentertaining manner. And the win against Wellin reminded me of his 2-3 fights before Kltscho. Boring fights – him clinching, leanng on his opponent. Wellin proved much better than most of the hyped Brits. I would love to see him versus Price, Allen, Chisiro or Joe Joyce.