“I remember training him for the Whyte fight,” Steward said to Ring Magazine. “He’s got that kind of energy, attitude, hunger to go out there, be exciting, and to be back in the ring again.”
When Sugarhill talks about the Whyte fight, he’s talking about a night where Fury didn’t get hit. However, critics argue that Whyte was the ideal “statue” for Fury to look good against.
By 2022, Whyte had been through wars and was stylistically a “left hook or bust” fighter. Fury’s 6’9″ frame and reach made Whyte look like he was swinging at air.
The Fountain of Youth argument for Fury usually rests on the idea that his mind and movement are his greatest assets; if those are gone, as the Usyk fights suggested, no amount of positive talk from Steward can fix the timing and balance issues.
Comparing the 2022 Whyte win to the upcoming April 11 fight against Arslanbek Makhmudov is a massive jump. Unlike Whyte, Makhmudov is a massive, heavy-handed puncher who doesn’t mind eating a jab to land a bomb.
Since 2022, Fury has been dropped by an MMA fighter, Ngannou, and spent 24 rounds being technically dismantled and physically hurt by Oleksandr Usyk.
“He’s moving good,” Sugarhill said about Fury. “He’s feeling good mentally and physically. He’s in a very happy place.”
It’s unlikely Fury actually finds a way to be 2022-fast again. Boxing history is littered with trainers saying their fighter is “back to his best” in camp, only for the opening bell to reveal the same slow feet and eroded chin.
Steward isn’t necessarily lying when he says Fury has “energy,” but energy in the gym doesn’t always translate to the reflexes needed to avoid a 260-pound Russian puncher.
If the version of Fury that showed up for the Usyk rematch is the one that enters the ring on April 11, the Whyte performance will look less like a standard and more like a final peak before the slide.
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