John Fury ferars his son Tyson needs more time to prepare for his undisputed heavyweight world title fight with Oleksandr Usyk.
Fury will fight bitter rival Usyk on February 17 in Saudi Arabia following his nervy split decision win against former UFC champion Francis Ngannou last month. ‘The Gypsy King’ had to pick himself up off the canvas to beat Ngannou by just a point on the judges’ scorecards, with the damage he sustained in the fight pushing back his fight with Usyk from their originally planned December 23 date.
Usyk was ringside for Fury’s fight with Ngannou and was shouting instructions for his rival in the hopes of keeping their undisputed fight alive. Fury refused to make any excuses and praised Ngannou for being his toughest opponent in the last decade whilst boasting a black eye and grazed forehead.
“February 17 is the date they have got to work towards. In my opinion, Tyson needs a bit more time to get his conditioning right and his weight right. He is taking more punches now than he has taken in his whole career and that could have shortened his career. That is the worry we have got here. Tyson is a remarkable man but sometimes he needs to listen to a bit of common sense,” John told Metro.
Usyk and his team were goaded by Fury at the first press conference for their undisputed fight earlier this month. John is confident in his son’s abilities to talk the talk, but he admitted that Tyson has looked like a shell of his former self in recent fights. Fury has been told that he should implement the old style that saw him beat the likes of Wladimir Klitschko in 2015.
“For my money, his last three fights, I have seen a bit of decline. Not a decline in ability but a decline in strength, power and physical condition. I don’t know what they are doing up there, you have to address it. He didn’t look himself out in Saudi. He would have been better boxing off the back foot, slipping and sliding,” John said.
“Against the old Tyson, Ngannou wouldn’t have landed a glove on him. The style I am seeing is no good, it won’t be any use boxing Usyk like that, just stood in front of him. You have to be clever and agile, as much as Usyk is. But unless you are trained to do that, what can you say?