Tyson Fury has been told his trilogy with Deontay Wilder is to blame for his poor performance against Francis Ngannou.
Heavyweight champion Fury won a controversial split decision against Ngannou last weekend in Saudi Arabia. The Brit was backed to breeze past Ngannou, who was making his boxing debut, to set up an undisputed world title fight against Oleksandr Usyk on December 23, but Fury was put down and had to pick himself up off the canvas to secure the win.
Wilder’s coach Malik Scott believes Fury’s previous fights against the American have zapped the best years out of him. Fury fought to a split draw against Wilder in 2018, but knocked him out in their rematch two years later and trilogy fight in October 2021. “Even Fury believes the Deontay Wilde fights changed him,” Scott told FightHype.
Wilder’s coach Malik Scott believes Fury’s previous fights against the American have zapped the best years out of him. Fury fought to a split draw against Wilder in 2018, but knocked him out in their rematch two years later and trilogy fight in October 2021. “Even Fury believes the Deontay Wilde fights changed him,” Scott told FightHype.
“He’s 35 years young but to me Fury has put a lot of wear and tear on his body. Not just the Deontay fights, early on in his career he took damage in the first [Derek] Chisora fight, he was knocked down with [Steve] Cunningham. The gym, he’s always had high-quality sparring. He’s 35 but father time is undefeated.”
Fury was left with a black eye and grazed forehead after fighting Ngannou, with his unexpected battle scars delaying his undisputed fight against Usyk. The Ukrainian insisted he would be ready to fight in December but the fight has now been pushed back until Februrary.
