Tyson Fury will beat any heavyweight alive today, according to former featherweight champion ‘Prince’ Naseem Hamed.
Fury was held to a controversial draw against WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder in Los Angeles last December after twice climbing off the canvas late in the fight.
The result was widely pilloried on social media with the majority of fight fans and pundits appearing to believe Fury had done more than enough to win.
The result was controversial enough for the WBC to order an immediate rematch which was subsequently quashed when Fury opted to sign with US broadcaster ESPN. Wilder is aligned with rival network Showtime.
Hamed, one of the most recognisable boxing faces in the 1990s due to his explosive style and extravagant ring entrances, firmly believes that Fury is the leader of the heavyweight pack that also includes Wilder and unified champion Anthony Joshua.
“For me Tyson Fury is at the forefront and he’s proved that he’s the best heavyweight alive today,” Hamed said to iFL TV. “I’ve got Tyson Fury beating any heavyweight alive today. That is it.
“When all the talks happened between the States and Eddie [Hearn], I didn’t see anybody stepping forward and saying, ‘We’ll fight him’ bar Tyson and Frank Warren.
“You saw the fight, I saw the fight, the world saw it – everybody knows who won it. It’s clear cut, Tyson is the best heavyweight alive today. I like him, I like the way he is, his character, he’s good for the sport.
“I’ve always thought that one day he’s going to have to prove himself. You know what, he proved himself 10 times over in one fight.
“If he has a rematch, he’ll win even easier.”
Frank Warren, who promotes Fury, is adamant the Wilder rematch will happen down the track.
“I know all the guys wanna make it happen. It was just the fact that this massive deal came out from left field with ESPN for Tyson and that gives him a great platform and gives us more strength in the negotiations to make the fights,” Warren said to talkSPORT.
“It may take more time than we expected, but I genuinely think now that we are in a position where we can make that fight happen. All his foreseeable fights will be in the States.
“He’ll fight probably in June, we’re working on that and the opponent and we’ll obviously make an announcement pretty soon on that.
“At the moment we’re looking at three or four guys and at the end of the day Tyson’s gotta make a decision and he will do that I think quite soon.”
