Tyson Fury lost to Oleksandr Usyk (Image: Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
has denied his training camp for his first fight with was not up to scratch.
The rivals’ undisputed heavyweight showdown was delayed until May 18 earlier this year after Fury suffered a cut in training. Following the delay, leaked footage captured the moment that ‘The Gypsy King’ was accidentally elbowed by a sparring partner leading to a cut that contributed to the bout’s postponement. When the fight ultimately took place later in Riyadh without any hitches, Usyk managed to claim a narrow split decision win over Fury, marking the first professional loss for the towering British boxer.
Reflecting on his training during a ‘FACE OFF’ on DAZN’s YouTube channel, Fury stated: “I don’t make any excuses, it was a fantastic training camp. Never once have I ever said I had any problems in camp because I didn’t,” he declared. “I heard a load of d****** talking s*** that I had a lot of problems in camp, but I didn’t have any problems. I had a fantastic training camp.”
“He beat me fair and square… give the man his props! I don’t understand why people have got an excuse like ‘I lost the fight because I didn’t train great, or I lost the fight because the chef didn’t cook me the right foods.’ He won the fight, that’s it. That’s the end of it. There’s nothing more to say.”
“There’s no excuses, I had a fantastic training camp. I thought I did fantastic in the fight and he did fantastic. So, he got his result. Fair play, end of. There’s no more talking to be said, I did nothing wrong and I did everything good. So did he. He got the decision, a split decision… a cat’s whisker. If I would’ve got the decision, great! He got the decision, fantastic. There’s not much to say is there? Am I going to change everything in my camp because I lost a split decision? Hell no.”
Despite these comments from the British boxer, his coach Andy Lee revealed that preparations for the Usyk fight were disrupted due to a cut he suffered in training, which prevented him from sparring. There were concerns that the cut would reopen ahead of the first meeting with the Ukrainian.
However, he recently announced that ‘The Gypsy King’ will be able to spar for the rematch on December 21 in Riyadh. Speaking to talkSPORT, he said: “Fights are won and lost in the training and preparation. Because of the rearranged and rescheduled fight due to a cut, Tyson couldn’t spar in the camp. The conditioning, sharpness and your ability to concentrate to stay ready and to sustain attacks.
“When Tyson would have success in the fight, he would have to back away and look to rest to build up his energy again before mounting his next attack. In the meantime, it encouraged Usyk to come forward and gave him the emphasis to go forward to take it now because ‘I’m taking a break.’ It’ll be different because he’ll be able to spar.”