Tyson Fury Says He's Not Ready for the Klitschkos, Still Looking to Get Better

British and Commonwealth heavyweight champ Tyson Fury, who fights on Saturday in a non-title bout with Nicolai Firtha in Belfast, admitted to the Manchester Evening News that despite some suggesting the fight, he's not ready for either of the Klitschko brothers:

"I’m not ready. I’m a novice, Klitschko would knock me out."

Fury also says he's looking to improve, and get back to basics:

"I need to go back to basics and learn how to fight again. When I was 14 and 15 I used to fight with 10-punch combinations, now I can’t put two and three combinations together.

"I’m winning fights, but I can’t do what I did before. I was the fastest heavyweight since Muhammad Ali, but I’ve just gone slow, sluggish.  Big, lumbering heavyweights are hitting me when I used to be able dance around them and put 10, six, 10-combinations together.

"I’m winning because I’m so big, I’ve got a heart to keep going and my chin is all right too. But I’m not winning because of my skill."

While I like the part about the Klitschkos, and the honesty of the quote, the second part strikes me as kind of odd. Was Fury a 6'9", 260-pound man at 14 or 15? There's a reason he's gotten slower and doesn't put punches together in 10-count combinations. He's not built for that. If we get to a point where Tyson Fury is in a pro ring putting together legitimate 10-punch combinations, look out, because he's going to be an absurd force.