Comparing Ali/Clay with Fury on Mental Fortitude hey?
On the one hand , we have a guy that won an Olympic Gold Medal for his Country only to realise on his return that he was treated like a second class citizen and wasn’t even allowed in some restaurants because of the colour of his skin.
Then he rises rapidly through the ranks to take on the beast of the day that EVERYONE was scared of, and not only beat him fairly easily against all odds, but in the build up to the fight , taunt and ridicule him like no-one ever dared to before.
And then at the peak of his career , risk everything for the sake of his morals after Alienating the Whole nation and probably the whole World with his religious beliefs.
And then , after giving up his peak years, do it all over again and take his title back off the next BEAST that everyone was scared of.
All the time , being under the spotlight like no other sportsman and very few people in history have ever been before. And dealing with that.
On the other hand, you have a guy that won a World title, went off the rails , spiralling into an abyss of drink and drug issues, mental depression, very close to a Suicide attempt and ballooning in weight by 130lbs and experiencing low self esteem and basically not being able to cope.
Right, so maybe I’m being harsh, maybe he had the “mental fortitude “ to lose that weight and get back on track. Well yes, but Ali would never have got into that position in the first place.
And please let’s not compare “beasts”. Nobody would utter Liston or Foreman’s name, whereas everybody wanted Wilder and Wilder even resorted to calling out novices when he was champion.
Any decent HW Would beat Wilder. Trouble is, there aren’t many decent ones around.
Fury’s mental state is fragile, precarious. He knows himself that it could all go pear shaped again, and that’s why I don’t see him having the same mental strength.
Don’t get me wrong, I admire Fury and I really hope he can live a long, happy , content life. That is more important to him than any titles.
I’m not hating on Fury, I’ve already said he would be favourite if the fight was made, and I stand by my opinion that currently , apart from the AJ Fight , the only way he loses to anyone is because of himself and his mental state at the time.
I’m sorry , I don’t see it as mental strength, it’s a time bomb and closer to metal weakness I’m afraid.
I like the guy as a person and like I said, my main hope for Fury is that he finds inner peace and holds onto that for many , many years to come.
Ps. Please let’s not even consider comparing them on movement.