Tyson Fury has been warned about Oleksandr Usyk’s “serious sparring” sessions just over a month before their undisputed fight.
As the first undisputed heavyweight world champion since 1999, Fury is getting ready to take on Usyk on February 17 in Saudi Arabia. In contrast to Usyk, who hasn’t fought since stopping Daniel Dubois in August of last year, the British fighter is looking to outperform Francis Ngannou, the controversial winner of their previous bout.
For his next bout, Usyk has brought in 6’8″ heavyweight Serbian Sanel Hasanovic to spar. About the Ukrainian, Hasanovic wrote: “I think you’ll win the fight against Tyson Fury after some intense sparring. I would also like to thank my team, KUC Boxing Promotion, for their help and promotion.”
Fury has been training in silence out in Saudi Arabia since the beginning of the New Year since a social media embargo is something he generally employs for most of his fights. The former undisputed cruiserweight world champion Usyk’s uncomfortable approach has caused the Brit’s father, John, to advise him to adopt a new style in order to defeat the former.
With Usyk, he requires an entirely different method since he is so different. Michael Spinks, who was a blown-up light-heavyweight fighter who weighed little over fourteen stone at the time, faced off against Gerry Cooney a number of years ago; you can watch it online, John told Boxing Social.
“A man like Usyk isn’t going to be satisfied with the way he fights, especially after losing to Deontay Wilder and Francis Ngannou. I keep trying to tell Tyson, but it doesn’t seem to be sinking in. You have to train to set them up; Usyk won’t be around to drop bombs on you. Tyson is capable of doing it and he has that.”
One of Fury’s primary training partners claimed that Fury was only sparring four to six rounds, which contributed to his unimpressive performance against Ngannou. Usyk’s most recent victory was also a bit contentious because Dubois’s low blow overshadowed the bout, even though many spectators and competitors thought the punch was legitimate.