Tyson Fury will go down as Britain’s greatest heavyweight, claims his promoter Frank Warren.
Warren has either worked with or seen Britain’s best heavyweights from Henry Cooper to Anthony Joshua and Frank Bruno to Lennox Lewis and says Fury tops the lot. Fury defends his WBC crown against Dillian Whyte at Wembley in front of a record 94,000 crowd on Saturday and Warren says the unbeaten Gypsy King eclipses even former undisputed champ Lewis.
“I think it’s out of him and Lennox Lewis as to who is the greatest British heavyweight ever and I think Tyson’s the better heavyweight,” the Queensberry Promotions chief told Mirror Sport. “He’s the better boxer and he’s beaten guys when they were in their prime. Deontay Wilder was not over the hill, he was in his prime, and Tyson has no fear of travelling.
“In any era, he would hold his own, against any of those guys - the Foremans, the Fraziers, the Alis. In any era he would be there and he would give them all tough fights.He’s a big man, he’s got a great chin, he can box, he’s got a great boxing brain, he’s a switch-hitter, great footwork, great hand speed, he’s a natural athlete. He would be a handful for anyone.”
Warren claims beating Wladimir Klitschko and Deontay Wilder in their backyards to become world heavyweight champion sets Fury apart. “He’s secured his place as the No 1 heavyweight of his generation,” he said. “He’s beaten in their backyards, Klitschko, who was the best heavyweight of his generation, and Wilder.
“He took Klitschko to school, he boxed his head off. Then went to America and boxed the head off Wilder in their first fight, destroyed him in their second and then had a complete war with him in the third fight and stopped him. When you look at it, against Klitschko, no-one gave him an earthly, but he got the decision and throughly deserved it. Against Wilder, in the first two fights, he was the underdog and no-on gave him an earthly. He’s some fighter.”
Fury has bounced back from the depths of depression to conquer the heavyweight division and Warren is proud of his part in his journey. He is excited to be promoting his homecoming fight at Wembley, which will be in front of a British record crowd, nearly four years since he last fought in the UK.
“You look where he came back from, he was on the floor, suicidal, all sorts of stuff going on in his life, but he’s come back,” he said.“The thing about Tyson, I like to think between us all, we’ve done a fantastic job.
“Here’s a guy who has come back and he’s now probably one of the biggest names in world boxing. He’s a big star in America, he’s had his last five fights in the States, so to get him back over here, I’m really pleased about that. It’s his first fight here in nearly four years. I’m looking forward to that and the homecoming. I know the British fans are going to come out for it.”
