Tyson Fury vs Dillian Whyte – Ballers give their boxing opinions
Working class sports football and boxing have always been closely linked. Curtis Woodhouse and Leon McKenzie are both success stories of footballers turning to boxing, after 740 professional matches between them. Other players have had stints in boxing, such as Wayne Bridge in a charity match; Wayne Rooney was an amateur boxer as a youth; and Rio Ferdinand trained to turn pro briefly a few years back.
So with such an afinity and association between the two sports, here are the views of a few footballers on this weekend's walloping rumble at Wembley on St. George's Day:
Steven Gerrard: "Fury, for me, is someone we should just enjoy – to be alive at the same time and being able to watch him. I think it will be comfortable and he'll stop him in the sixth at some point."
Rio Ferdinand: "I think Dillian Whyte will give him some problems but I am going with Tyson Fury."
Trent Alexander-Arnold: "I like both. Tyson is just an outstanding fighter, I think I will always back him in fights. He always has what it takes. It should be a real good fight as Dillian has a lot of heart and will make it scrappy. Those scraps are what the neutrals want to see – knocking the sense out of each other. It's heavyweight boxing and anything can happen."
Declan Rice: "I am going to have to sit on the fence – I can't call it. It's hard, Dillian Whyte you never know what you're going to get. Whyte has incredible body shots. But Fury is obviously so good, so light and technically unbelievable. If it goes to points, Fury will outbox him."
Peter Crouch: "I am going for Fury in the eighth."
Joe Cole: "Fury on points, unanimous decision."
Leon McKenzie: “I’m leaning on the fence a bit because I feel like Dillian could cause an upset. He has got the ability to shock a lot of people, because everyone sees Tyson Fury as the man, that he can do no wrong and is perfect. You’re looking at someone in Tyson Fury who is pretty special but Dillian has shown his resilience – he’s won major fights and lost major fights but always been able to come back with a force. He has grown so much as a fighter. Dillian has got the pedigree to maybe unsettle Tyson and can be just as awkward. If it goes the distance, you favour Tyson.”
More predictions can be found here…
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