Tyson Fury has conceded that he only trained for five weeks for his showdown with Francis Ngannou back in October. The Gypsy King was put on the canvas in the third round but regained his composure and was awarded the victory at the end of the 10 rounds following a split decision from the judges.
Fury was far from his best during his bout with Ngannou and was deemed the winner by a single point on the judges’ scorecards. Many raised suspicions that Fury had not trained properly for the ex-UFC champion – who had been making his professional boxing debut – after such a lacklustre performance.
The 35-year-old is now set for an undisputed clash with fellow champion Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, February 17. And ahead of the fight, Fury sat down with Usyk and Steve Bunce for a TNT Sports interview and confirmed he had barely spent much time in the gym preparing for Ngannou. He said: “I’m not even in the gym. I don’t train this far out come on. Who do you think you’re talking to? A professional athlete? Come on. I train four to five weeks for these fights.”
Fury was then told he had previously claimed he had trained for 12 weeks in preparation for his clash with Ngannou. And the superstar hit back: “Please. Like I trained 12 weeks for [Deontay] Wilder and everybody else. Four or five weeks. How much training does a man need? Three or four weeks of sparring and one week of resting, done.
“We’ve been boxing for all of our lives since young boys, how much training do we need? I’m sure we aren’t going to forgot how to box and it’s not a fitness competition is it, so I don’t think you need any more than five weeks.”
Fury then added: “I know he can’t beat me, I know he can’t. A man who wears an earring can never beat Tyson Fury, ever. Not a chance, no one who wears earrings can beat him.”
Usyk told Bunce: “I can explain about the earrings. It’s Ukrainian warrior, Cossack. They were the people who defended my country from our enemies for many years. This is just the proof of my Cossack lineage – they never lost to anybody. There is no beauty or fashion in this.”
But Fury then replied: “Listen, in Ukraine it means he’s a good fighting man, for him. But where I’m from it means he’s a p***y with an earring in.”
The fighting talk has been going on since the bout was announced, with Fury already exclaiming in a previous press conference: “I’m going to bust him up. Sausage. Ugly little man. Rabbit. Run rabbit, run rabbit, run, run, run.” And it remains to be seen which boxer comes out on top in the Middle East, which will declare the first undisputed heavyweight champion since the early 2000s.