On April 11, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Tyson Fury vs Arslanbek Makhmudov headlines The Ring’s latest fight card. Fury’s return will be broadcast globally on Netflix, and it remains to be seen just how much Fury has left.
Deontay Wilder’s former coach, Malik Scott, has spoken to Action Network, delivering his verdict on what he feels Fury has left ahead of his showdown with Makhmudov.
‘He’s just not the same man’: Scott delivers Tyson Fury verdict
Discussing Tyson Fury’s decline after his trilogy with Deontay Wilder, Scott said:
“I think Tyson Fury caught the worst of Deontay Wilder. The power actually feels scary, and it’s a serious thing. Tyson Fury felt it the worst because he had to deal with it with 10-ounce gloves on, being hit by Wilder, getting knocked down, getting up with his equilibrium disturbed, and continuing to fight, and then getting knocked down again.
“And that happened to him, not in just one fight, but in two fights, repeatedly got knocked down by Wilder. And that’s not even counting the punches that landed that he didn’t go down from. So he’s just not the same man, but I knew he wasn’t the same man when he gave Usyk two good fights. I knew he wasn’t the same man when he stopped Dillian Whyte.”
Malik Scott’s verdict on Tyson Fury’s world title chances
Doubting whether Tyson Fury could ever beat Oleksandr Usyk, Scott said:
“Can Fury become world champion again? I personally don’t think Tyson Fury could ever beat Usyk, and I think the older he gets, the worse it will look. Especially since he’s not active. And you’re human, and I think things could play out badly on you if you continue to fight these young guys and the Usyks of the world.
“I just think it could play out for you in a bad way if you continue to do it. But Tyson is special, man. We’ve seen him pull a rabbit out of the hat a few times. It’s just never any telling. He can go in here and end up stopping this guy in three or four rounds. And does that mean if he does that, John Fury is wrong? No, that just means John Fury is possibly right, he just wasn’t right about this fight. It may happen in the next fight, so it’s just never any telling. We’ll have to see.”
Tyson Fury vs Arslanbek Makhmudov
Ahead of Tyson Fury’s comeback fight against Makhmudov, Scott has weighed in:
“I don’t think he punches as hard as he looks. I think if he did, him and Dave Allen don’t go the distance. I think if he did, he really wouldn’t have just lost the fights that he’s lost, because everybody that beat him, he did hit them, but they were able to take it and give it back, and it just seemed when the going gets tough and the toughs get going, if you really know what you’re doing, you can break him.
“He doesn’t have Fury’s IQ, he doesn’t have Fury’s punch selection, he’s not Tyson Fury, but he’s big enough where he could hurt him. We have to see where Fury is at after this few months that he’s had off as well. We gotta see how his legs are. We gotta see how he reacts when he gets hit by this guy.”
Stay with Big Fight Weekend for coverage of Fury vs Makhmudov, including results and video highlights, and post-fight analysis.