Tyson Fury’s trainer Andy Lee has said that his training camp preparation for his first fight against Oleksandr Usyk on May 18 has been disrupted due to the recent cut he suffered, which has prevented him from sparring. There was concern that the healing cut would reopen if Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) spared.
Lee reveals that Fury will spar for the December 21st rematch in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Of course, if Fury can’t scramble again, the fans will hear about it afterwards if he loses again.
Fans aren’t buying the lack of sparring as a plausible excuse to explain why he lost to Usyk last May. Fury was hurt by a left hook to the head in the ninth and was hit with an unanswered barrage of punches.
That initial shot that hurt Fury had nothing to do with his lack of sparring and more to do with his punch resistance not being up to par. If Lee were to make an excuse for Fury, a better argument would be that his chin isn’t the same after his three fights against Deontay Wilder.
While Fury came through those fights without suffering a loss, he was knocked down four times in those three fights. Two strikes in the first fight with Deontay in 2018 and two more in their trilogy match in 2021.
The blow Fury suffered in his first fight with Wilder was devastating. Fury was knocked unconscious in the 12th round and, incredibly, given a count by the referee.
The cumulative damage Fury suffered in his trilogy with Deontay may have played into him being hurt by Usyk in the ninth. It has nothing to do with Fury’s lack of sparring. It just sounds like Lee is making excuses to try and explain away Fury’s loss.
“Tyson cruises to round nine, and takes that hit. He shows incredible bravery and courage to get through it,” coach Andy Lee said talkSport Boxingdiscussing Tyson Fury’s loss to Oleksandr Usyk.
“He sees through the next few rounds and then almost wins the last round or two. I thought it could have been a draw. Battles are won and lost in training and preparation. “Due to the rearrangement and rescheduled fight due to a cut, Tyson was unable to spar in camp,” Lee said.
Fury basically had two training camps for his fight against Usyk. So there should have been more than enough time for him to prepare for the undisputed contest. It was one camp, but more like two due to the sheer amount of time Fury had.
“The conditioning, sharpness and your ability to concentrate to stay ready and sustain attacks,” Lee said of what Fury lost by not sparring. Whenever Tyson would achieve success in the fight, he would have to back off and rest to regain his energy before launching 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 will be different because he will be able to spar,” says Lee about how the training camp will be different this time for the reunion with Usyk.
