Ring Observer Boxing by Scoop Malinowski
By Scoop Malinowski
Back in time during his reign of domination, Lennox Lewis memorably stated one of his mission objectives was to “get rid of all the misfits in the heavyweight division.” The message was clear, Lennox was the “white knight” hero trying to save the sport and eliminate all the troubled, misbehaving malcontents like Mike Tyson, Riddick Bowe, Andrew Golota, Oliver McCall, David Tua, Ike Ibeabuchi, Henry Akinwande, Hasim Rahman, Evander Holyfield. Lewis indeed did remove all the oddballs and attained the throne of World Heavyweight Champion.
If Lennox was still active today, he surely would want to remove Tyson Fury from his high status as a heavyweight titleholder. Because, though Fury is a very talented athlete trapped inside an old, out of shape, fat, unattractive body he is also guided or misguided by an erratic and scrambled mind.
The mad genius Tyson Fury fought again last night in a “fight” nobody really wanted to see. He won of course against a guy he’s already beaten twice. His performance and athleticism looked okay. His punches and movements looked slow, almost underwater. Compared to the high standards of his predecessors like the awe-inspiring artistry of Lennox, the Klitschkos, Iron Mike Tyson, Larry Holmes, Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Jack Dempsey, Jack Johnson, let’s face it, Fury looked awful.
Fury reminds you of some kind of freak giant fat blob who belongs in a circus or a Mighty Joe Young movie tug o’ war, not as the central figure in a world heavyweight title fight.
But Fury’s most embarrassing behaviors were exhibited after the fight when he called out the real World Heavyweight Champion Oleksandr Usyk from his ringside seat. Usyk climbed the steps to the ring ropes and was greeted with a shouting onslaught from Fury, who yelled, screamed ugly, classless insults at Usyk, who just stood there staring back at Fury, not needing to say a word. A smart man does not engage with a crazed psycho. Fury continued the embarrassing charade for about a minute. Fury not only shamed himself, he shamed the sport’s image. Yet again. Usyk didn’t bother to waste a single word on the ridiculous, ranting Fury.
The whole scene was a debacle. Fury is a grotesque giant misfit who seems destined for a great fall and it’s going to be a very hard fall.
But how the end of this great anomaly ultimately happens is the intrigue of it all. Will it be Anthony Joshua or Usyk or somebody else who can finally dispose of this belligerent freak show? Or is our world so upside down that Tyson Fury is the symbol of all the chaos and insanity – and he will continue to march on and represent professional boxing for many more years to come?
Let’s hope the often dishonest, many times fake retired, fragile minded Fury will keep his word and sign to fight Usyk and Joshua in 2023. And finally an undisputed World Heavyweight Champion will be crowned again.
