Tyson Fury suffered the first defeat of his professional career against Oleksandr Usyk and has now come under fire for his actions ahead of the fight
Tyson Fury has been accused of not taking his training camp seriously in the lead-up to his heavyweight title defeat to Oleksandr Usyk. The Gypsy King suffered the first defeat of his professional career on Saturday night, losing out to the Ukrainian by split decision.
After a wobbly start, Fury had seemed in control until he sustained a bloody nose and a brutal knockdown in the ninth round before hanging on to go the full distance. Yet the judges scored it 115-112, 113-114 and 114-113 in Usyk’s favour, raising questions about whether Fury has what it takes to win their rematch in October.
Former Irish boxer Joe Egan believes the 35-year-old can still avenge his stunning defeat, but slammed Fury for breaking up his training camp in the build-up due to external distractions. Egan, speaking to former super-middleweight world champion Carl Froch, compared Froch’s professionalism to Fury’s apparent lack of, and claimed the Gypsy King’s engine let him down in the fight.
Egan said during his appearance on Froch on Fighting: “It was a close fight but it was only 50% of Tyson Fury. He wasn’t fit for that fight. I don’t care what anybody says. He didn’t prepare properly for that fight. His training camp was broken up. He was out in Dubai watching [Francis] Ngannou and [Anthony] Joshua nine weeks before the fight. Seven weeks before the fight he was doing a press conference in Manchester without Usyk, Usyk didn’t break his camp.
“Then four weeks before the fight he’s out visiting his family in Morecambe. You [Froch] were the ultimate spartan, you knew the sacrifices you’ve got to make in a 12-week training camp but he didn’t make them sacrifices.”
Continuing his scathing attack on Fury’s professionalism, Egan highlighted how a 57-year-old Mike Tyson is taking his training more seriously, even though he is fighting a YouTuber-turned-boxer in Jake Paul. Tyson, who takes on the social media star 30 years his junior on July 20, has consistenly uploaded videos of his training since the announcement.
