Tyson Fury came up short when twice attempting to hand Oleksandr Usyk a maiden pro defeat back in 2024. Now, his uncle and former trainer, Peter Fury, has highlighted the key reason why he believes ‘The Gypsy King’ was unable to best the Ukrainian.
Peter Fury trained his nephew for his famous unified heavyweight world title win over Wladimir Klitschko back in 2015, arguably the most impressive victory of his career. However, following a three-year hiatus from the sport, Fury returned with Ben Davison in his corner.
Davison worked with Fury for five fights, until SugarHill Steward was appointed for the Deontay Wilder rematch; a move which proved to be a successful one as the ‘Kronk’ style aided Fury in two legendary triumphs over ‘The Bronze Bomber’.
Yet, when challenging for the undisputed throne, Fury and Steward were unable to get the better of Usyk and the Briton suffered a first career defeat, before losing once more in the rematch.
Speaking to talkSPORT Boxing, Peter Fury, who trained Rico Verhoeven in his controversial clash with Usyk last month, explained that his nephew was not front-footed enough in his bouts with Usyk, believing that he did not use his size to his advantage.
“As soon as the opening bell [went] and I seen how he was performing, I thought, ‘he is doing it wrong’. You’re a bigger man, coming in at 20 stone and doing all the wrong things; instead of going forward, [you’re] standing back.
“He has got his team there and I am not criticising anybody but both of the tactics were not good in both of them fights. Its was gone about wrong because, when you look at the structure of Usyk and what he does, to stand off and try and box an elite boxer, who is lighter than you, who is giving pounds away, he is going to ping you all over the shop.”
Verhoeven’s efforts and Peter Fury’s tactics against Usyk have been lauded in the last two weeks, described by some to be providers of Usyk’s ‘toughest professional fight’, with the Dutchman now entering the world rankings despite losing the contest.
