If a Tyson Fury fan was looking for a fall guy at whose feet he or she could lay the blame for Tyson’s defeat at the hands of Oleksandr Usyk, John Fury was/is the man. Fury’s dad was widely criticised, not only for his behaviour in the run-up to the fight in Riyadh in May (Fury Senior head-butting a small dude who was a member of Team-Usyk for one quite disgraceful example of how Fury did not lead a good example), but also for his work in his son’s corner.
There were, the critics rightly pointed out, too many voices in the corner, and John Fury’s voice often overlapped that of the man who should have been doing all the talking – Sugar Hill Steward (with some additional input from Andy Lee). Now, as per a report from The Mirror, Fury Snr will not be speaking in the corner in the rematch that will of course take place (no pull-outs, we hope) on December 21.
This can only be good news for Tyson Fury, as Steward is a perfectly good trainer who needs to be at the controls with zero interruptions or distractions. Again, fellow fine trainer Andy Lee may well put in some advice on the night, but Lee knows what John Fury didn’t know: that he should not speak over the head coach, and that’s Steward.
It’s great having family members at a fight of yours if you are a fighter like Fury, who comes from a fighting family, but John Fury did his son no favours back in May. Fury knows he needs to be fully focused this time and, with Steward’s calm and assured voice in his ear on the night of December 21st, “The Gypsy King” will be in good hands.
Whether or not Fury can reverse the loss and defeat Usyk this time, well, some might say that no matter who was working Fury’s corner on the night this will not happen. It’s all down to the 36 year old former heavyweight king to pull out THE fight of his career in a little under two month’s time. But can Fury do it?
“Tyson’s no fool,” Frank Warren said recently to Sky Sports. “He knows boxing backwards. He knows what’s got to be done and he’ll make sure it happens.”
Again, will he, though?
