May 2024 saw the impossible happen. Tyson Fury lost for the very first time in his professional boxing career. It was devastating, but now, he wants to avenge his loss against Oleksandr Usyk. Both the boxers will lock horns on December 21 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for their rematch. But what if ‘The Gypsy King’ simply isn’t ready for the fight?

Hey, we aren’t the ones suggesting that! UFC commentator Joe Rogan feels Fury isn’t the same anymore after his Deontay Wilder fights. His first fight against Wilder took place in December 2018 but was declared a draw. Their second bout happened in October 2020 and the third one in October 2021. However, Fury won both those fights via TKO and KO, so what’s the problem?

Well, on June 22, Rogan streamed a discussion on JRE on YouTube. Bryan Callen, Brendan Schaub, and Brian Simpson joined him and as they discussed various boxers, Tyson Fury came up. Rogan immediately said, [Fury was terrified of [Wilder’s] power. He got dropped with a furious left hook in the, he got rocked in the eighth round. Bro, it’s the same thing you see in the Usyk fight.”

Further pointing out how Usyk managed to put Fury on the ropes during their fight in Saudi Arabia, the podcaster said, “He’s not all there anymore. Those fights with Deontay Wilder took something out of him. 100%!” Rogan also suggested on the JRE Fight Companion discussion. He also stated Wilder used to be a different animal in those days, labeling the ‘Bronze Bomber’ the most terrifying knockout artist in the history of heavyweight boxing.

Despite Fury winning two fights against Wilder, the latter looked good as he too knocked Fury down multiple times over the course of their epic bouts, leading Rogan to believe that these knockdowns may have significantly affected Fury’s condition.

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The trilogy was indeed a clash of the Titans, and it’s hard to argue against Rogan since even Francis Ngannou managed to drop the elite heavyweight during their fight last year. During the third round, the French-Cameroonian fighter had dropped ‘The Gypsy King’ with a left hook and had raised several eyebrows. And, of course, given the kind of power Wilder had back then, Fury was bound to take damage. However, not to forget, he did well against Usyk in the early rounds. It’s just that Usyk’s skills and stamina proved to be superior to Fury’s.

And it looks like Rogan might not be entirely wrong in his assessment. In May, the 36-year-old Gypsy King stated, “I think he’s [Usyk] the best opponent I’ve ever faced. Because I’ve fought world heavyweight champions before, fought undefeated people before. I fought an Olympic gold medallist before, but I’ve never fought a two-weight world champion. So, I think that puts him on top of it all.”

Even after Fury’s knockdown during the Usyk fight, he came back into the game in the later rounds. So, it’s not completely far-fetched to think Tyson Fury has a shot at winning the rematch against Usyk. In the meantime, WBC’s recent decision to drop Fury to No.2 spot in their rankings doesn’t help his case either.

Is The Gypsy King’s Reign Coming To An End?

After ‘The Cat’ emerged victorious via a split decision win over Tyson Fury in their fight in May, many believed Fury would go down in the WBC rankings to the No.1 spot behind Usyk as the champion. However, when the rankings were updated, it revealed Fury actually was in the No. 2 spot behind British rival Anthony Joshua. While speaking to talkSport about the decision, Mauricio Sulaiman explained why that was the case.

“Tyson Fury in the previous rankings was the WBC heavyweight champion and Anthony Joshua has been the No.1 contender in the WBC rankings for several months,” said Sulaiman. He elaborated further, underscoring that Joshua knocked out his last two opponents while Fury got knocked down and lost his fight to Usyk, adding, “Champions do not always drop to No.1 in the rankings.”

By the looks of things, Joe Rogan is counting out Tyson Fury before his rematch against Oleksandr Usyk in December. And as far as Deontay Wilder changing Fury is concerned, Wilder isn’t alone in doing so—Fury has kissed the canvas before too but has always come back.

Do you think Wilder’s knockdowns had any real effect on Tyson Fury? Let us know in the comments below.