Although Fury “toyed” with Makhmudov at times, switching southpaw and ending the twelfth along with his hands behind his back, Allen saw a version of Fury that was “five times slower” than the person who ruled the division a couple of years ago.
“To the naked eye, he wasn’t great tonight. I assumed it was a very average performance,” said Dave Allen on his channel about Fury’s performance against Makhmudov last Saturday. “It was just like the old Tyson Fury, but five times slower.”
“If he went through the gears he could have gotten him out of there, and he either selected to not or he couldn’t. A 36-year-old that hasn’t met Makhmudov shouldn’t be going 12 with a world-class heavyweight. Fury hasn’t got much left. He was really slow. The pace was slow, painfully slow. Makhmudov isn’t going 12 with anyone near the highest five.”
The common consensus amongst fans that the Wilder trilogy took one of the best of Fury seems more accurate with every fight. While he got the unanimous decision (120-108, 120-108, 119-109), it was more about Makhmudov being “disinterested” and slow than Fury being elite.
Allen’s X post about Fury having “not much left” reflects the fact of a 37-year-old heavyweight who has lived a really hard life, each out and in of the ring.
Because the Wilder fights, wins over Dillian Whyte, and Derek Chisora didn’t require Fury to be at 100%. The Ngannou scare was the primary major warning sign, and the next losses to Usyk in 2024 confirmed that the elite-level agility is gone.
Many analysts consider that the 2021 war with Wilder was the start of the top for his peak physical years. Every fight since then, Whyte, Chisora, Ngannou, and the Usyk matches, has looked like a gentle decline in athleticism.
If he looked that aged and slow against a version of Makhmudov that Allen described as “finished” and “punching under water,” it really highlights the danger he’d face against the younger, hungrier crop.
Someone like Moses Itauma or Richard Torrez Jr. operates at a totally different frequency. They throw them with a speed and volume that requires elite reflexes to neutralize.
Fury used to maneuver like a middleweight; now, as Allen put it, he looks like he’s fighting underwater or in slow motion.
“I’d prefer to see him box Joshua or Wilder,” said Allen about Fury. I wouldn’t need to see him box the young guys, anything too fresh, too sharp. I believe he’s lost a step or two or three, to be honest.”
Allen, wanting to see him fight Joshua or Wilder, looks like he’s asking for an “Old Timer’s” tournament. It’s a way for Fury to money out in a giant domestic or legacy fight without getting embarrassed by the “young, fresh, sharp” guys Allen mentioned he wants Fury to avoid.
If he couldn’t “undergo the gears” against a man Allen says is “finished,” how does he survive twelve rounds with someone like Jalolov or perhaps a rejuvenated AJ? It looks just like the “Gypsy King” is solely operating on muscle memory and repute at this point.
