Can Anyone Other Than Father Time Defeat Tyson Fury?

This past Saturday at Wembley Stadium in London, England before 94,000 fans in attendance Tyson Fury added another victory to his undefeated ledger. In doing so “The Gypsy King” further cemented his legacy, improving his record to 32-0-1 with 23 KOs.

The victim was a very capable Dillian Whyte. Whyte entered the bout with a 28-2 (19 KOs), with both losses coming at the hands of former world champions in Anthony Joshua and Alexander Povetkin. The Povetkin loss was avenged, the Joshua defeat which happened way back in 2015 was one in which Whyte gave a good account of himself before faltering.

Entering the bout Whyte had never been dominated in his 11 year professional career. That changed when he met Tyson Fury.

Fury handled Whyte like a woodchopper, cut him down, gave him a kiss-off push

After five rounds of being a step behind The Gypsy King, who was boxing  beautifully while putting rounds in the bank, a sudden end would come in the form of a whipping right uppercut which downed Whyte in round six. He would rise on very shaky legs only to have the referee waive the contest off.

Whyte has proven to be a solid heavyweight who has been at the top of the division for several years. He didn't look the part Saturday night because of who he was sharing a ring with. Tyson Fury is operating on a level seldom seen throughout heavyweight boxing history. At this level, he looks unbeatable. Of course no fighter is, that much was welded air-tight when an undefeated Mike Tyson was knocked out by 42-1 underdog named Buster Douglas back in 1990.

Still, after overcoming all that Fury has, in the forms of massive weight gain, alcohol and drug dependencies, topped off with depression and bipolar disorder all leading to an early retirement from the sport…. only to make it all the way back to the top of the mountain makes one ponder. Can anyone other than Father Time defeat this man?

Tyson Fury claimed after the Whyte victory that it was his last fight, but conventional wisdom and the history of the sport tells us otherwise. There is still unfinished business in the form of a fight with the winner of a rematch between Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk, which will take place this summer.

Fans have long clamored for a superfight between Fury and Joshua. That fight almost came to fruition in late 2021 before Deontay Wilder forced a third Fury fight, which saw which The Gypsy King put an exclamation point on the trilogy in a back and forth war with Fury finishing off Wilder in round 11.

Joshua for his part needed a dance partner with Tyson Fury occupied and ended up losing in an upset to Usyk in September 2021. A fighter is only as good as his last fight and similar to Joshua's upset loss to Andy Ruiz which was avenged, a victory over Usyk will make all the wrong things right again. Should Usyk be triumphant once more, then it won't be hard to get fans excited about two undefeated heavyweights, the best in the world, colliding.

Rarely do we see a boxer leave the sport in or close to his prime, especially a heavyweight. Lennox Lewis comes to mind, he went out on top at the age of 37 after a battle of attrition versus heir apparent Vitali Klitschko. It was an all-out classic war. Lewis, though, appeared to push the envelope as far as possible in victory, as one couldn't help but see that the great champion was now a declining fighter.

No such situational matters seem to apply with Tyson Fury. If anything, the Gypsy King appears to be getting better at the age of 33.

If he never stepped foot in a boxing ring again, as he's stated is the case, it would be hard to argue against seeing Tyson Fury as a top 15 heavyweight, all-time, from an accomplishment standpoint. Ending the reigns of long-standing champions Wladimir Klitschko and Wilder all but assured that. Head to head, he matches up with any heavy that ever lived.

Still, leaving one more superfight on the table when the Joshua-Usyk winner is such an attractive proposition would be a crime. That is a crime I don't expect Tyson Fury to commit. Expect one more for the road!