THERE’S only one Tyson Fury – and there’s only one Dmeji Shittu as well.
Five Star ABC coach Eddie Kelly made the comparison between his light-heavyweight and ‘The Gypsy King’.
Kelly told Boxing News: “Dmeji moves like him and he throws similar combinations.
“Rather than shout out complicated combinations, I shout out: ‘Fury’ or ‘[Sergey] Kovalev’ to Dmeji. ‘Fury’ is a feint, then a one-two.”
Shittu, who represents Great Britain at the World Championships that get underway in Liverpool on September 4, shakes his head at the comparison between himself and the two-time world heavyweight champion.
The 23-year-old from Romford said: “People say we are similar because we are both long and awkward. I can see where it comes from.
“We are tricky and both have that element of surprise. People don’t know what we are going to do next.
“I’m hard to read. They are used to conventional boxers and that’s not me. I’m hard to deal with.
“But he is Tyson Fury and I’m Demji Shittu. I’m different.”
Shittu started boxing when he was 17 years old.
“One day my mate brought a pair of boxing gloves to school and started messing about,” he said.
“I was getting beaten up and decided I want to learn how to do this properly.
“I was never into any other sports. I was never that good at football or anything else. I didn’t have the coordination.
“I started boxing later than a lot of people, but that’s a plus. If I had started when I was younger, I wouldn’t have had the discipline.”
Shittu has since gone on to have around 70 bouts – more than twice the amount Fury had – and the highlight so far was his gold medal at last November’s World Boxing Cup: GB Open in Sheffield where he won three bouts to finish on top of the podium at 80kgs.
Shittu says his bid for gold at the M&S Bank Arena could end in tears.
“It’s a very competitive division,” he said, “but I’m confident in my skills and my coaches.
“It would mean everything to win the gold. After all the hard work I have put in to boxing, I think I would cry – and I don’t cry much.”
