The five heavyweights who could beat Fury

The five heavyweights who could beat Tyson Fury 

By Tom Masters

Tyson Fury has emerged as arguably the greatest heavyweight fighter of all time, with several boxing greats bestowing him that title while others believe he has work to do to reach the highest of accolades in the sport. 

 

Fury’s record speaks for itself, with only a controversial draw against Deontay Wilder ruining a perfect record, as the Gypsy King has won the other 31 of his 32 fights, with 22 coming by way of knockout. 

 

Despite boasting such an impressive record, boxing supremo Eddie Hearn believes Fury needs to fight against the best modern-day boxers to be able to lay claim to the crown of greatest ever heavyweight. 

 

But are there actually any current heavyweights who could beat him? We look at five who could hand a first defeat to the 33-year-old. 

 

1.     Anthony Joshua 

 

The fight that everyone around the world, and particularly in the UK, wants to happen is Anthony Joshua against Tyson Fury in a battle of the Brits.

 

Joshua was looking unbeatable until his shock defeat against Andy Ruiz Jr a few years ago which is now widely regarded as one of boxing’s biggest upsets along with Mike Tyson’s defeat to Buster Douglas.  

 

Despite this loss and his most recent defeat to Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk, there is no doubt that Joshua is still a challenger to Fury’s crown, with 24 wins in 26 fights, including 22 knockouts. 

 

Joshua has beaten Wladimir Klitschko, Carlos Takam, Joseph Parker, Alexander Povetkin, Dillian Whyte and Kubrat Pulev which still makes for an impressive fighting CV. 

 

There is also considerable bad blood between the pair and this fight feels like one that either fighter could take on the day. 

 

Joshua’s fitness and speed could test Fury, although the Gypsy King has gone the distance far more times than his compatriot. 

 

There is certainly a pull to this fight, both fighters are extremely well supported, and it genuinely does feel like it could go either way in what could be one of the great heavyweight encounters. 

 

2.     Oleksandr Usyk 

 

After beating Joshua, Usyk currently holds the WBA, IBF and WBO titles. 

 

He has a perfect record in professional boxing, winning all 19 of his fights, 13 of which by knockout, while his record in the amateur ranks was also excellent, winning the European and World Championships as well as gold at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. 

 

The former cruiserweight has already defeated Derek Chisora and Joshua after stepping up in weight and his nickname ‘The Cat’ tells you everything you need to know about how he can challenge Fury with a flurry of fast punches. 

 

Usyk is currently ranked as the number one boxer by BoxRec, while he is only behind Fury in The Ring’s rankings. 

 

Usyk is another, along with Joshua, who Hearn believes Fury needs to fight to take the title of best heavyweight of all time, with the 34-year-old Ukrainian and Fury both never having tasted defeat. 

 

3.     Dillian Whyte 

 

Whyte feels like a heavyweight that has rather gone under the radar due to fighting in the same era as Fury and Joshua and now has slipped behind Usyk in many people’s rankings. 

 

But his record is very good, suffering just two defeats in 30 fights, with 19 of his 28 wins coming by knockout. 

 

He was knocked out by Joshua in 2015 and suffered defeat to Povetkin in 2020, although he avenged that one and defeated the Russian in his most recent bout in March 2021. 

 

His notable victories also include two wins against Chisora and a unanimous points decision victory over New Zealander Joseph Parker. 

 

He is the third boxer who Hearn believes Fury needs to fight against to be able to call himself the greatest, and as it would be another all-British bout, it would certainly catch the attention of the public. 

 

Whether he would be able to challenge Fury is a different question, but his record and previous fights suggest that he may well be able to surprise a few and cause an upset. 

 

4.     Andy Ruiz Jr

 

Ruiz Jr stunned the boxing world when defeating Joshua at Madison Square Garden, handing the British fan favourite his first ever defeat. 

 

Ruiz’s defeat in the rematch seemed to put an end to any people seriously believing he would go on to take other headline wins.

 

However, that iconic AJ victory is enough to believe he can beat anybody on the day. 

 

Ruiz’s record is excellent too, winning his first 29 fights before suffering defeat to Joseph Parker for the WBO title, which Parker then held for two years. 

 

His loss to Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia came by unanimous decision and the Parker defeat was also on points, meaning Ruiz has never been knocked out. 

 

In anyone’s eyes, 34 wins from 36 fights is a brilliant record, although only 12 of those have come by knockout suggesting he perhaps does not have the fire power to match Fury, but as Joshua found out the hard way, underestimate Ruiz at your peril. 

 

5.     Deontay Wilder 

 

Realistically, it is very difficult to come up with more than three fighters who could challenge Fury, which is why despite two defeats and that controversial draw against the Gypsy King, Deontay Wilder is on this list. 

 

The Bronze Bomber has an outstanding record, winning 42 of his 45 fights with only Fury getting the better of the 36-year-old American. 

 

Until their second fight, Wilder had gone 43 fights without defeat, in a career which included two wins against Cuban Luis Ortiz. 

 

Fury recently sent out a touching message to Wilder, showing the respect between the pair, as he said: “My message to Deontay Wilder is – keep going champ, you can do it. 

 

“I believe in Deontay Wilder; he will be heavyweight champion once again – you better believe that.” 

 

It seems incredibly unlikely the pair would fight for a fourth time, but his record suggests that if there were to be a fourth bout between the pair, that Wilder still has the ability to cause Fury problems, especially having sent him to the canvas on multiple occasions previously. 

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