Tyson Fury has ‘disrespected boxing’ and I hope Oleksandr Usyk ‘puts a beating’ on him, says Anthony Joshua’s ex-trainer
ANTHONY JOSHUA’S ex-trainer claimed Tyson Fury “disrespected boxing” – and he hopes Oleksandr Usyk “puts a beating” on him as payback.
Fury and Usyk unify all four belts for the first time in heavyweight history on February 17 in Saudi Arabia.
It comes just four months after the Gypsy King faced ex-UFC champion Francis Ngannou in a crossover clash.
And Fury, 35, almost suffered disaster when he dropped by boxing debutant Ngannou, 37, only to later win a controversial decision.
So Robert Garcia – who formerly coached AJ – called on 36-year-old Usyk to make the WBC champ pay for his lacklustre performance.
Garcia told Boxing Social: “I would like Usyk to put a beating on him, just because of his last performance.
“I think he disrespected boxing, Fury was totally out of shape. People think he lost, I think he won, but he should have destroyed Ngannou.
“I think Fury took it so lightly he didn’t even train. He disrespected boxing so I would love Usyk to slap him around, but if Fury’s in shape it’s a difficult fight.
“He uses his weight, his tricks, he pushes, he does so many things that make him so effective that if he’s in great shape, I pick him to beat Usyk but I would like to see the opposite.”
Heavyweight contender Martin Bakole was one of the sparring partners in camp with Fury last year and echoed Garcia’s comments.
TYSON FURY VS OLEKSANDR USYK: ALL THE DETAILS YOU NEED AHEAD OF HUGE UNDISPUTED HEAVYWEIGHT BOUT
CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERS
He said to iFL TV: “To be honest, I was in Tyson Fury’s camp.
“If you watch my interview [at the event] when people are asking me, I was saying I will not be surprised to see Ngannou drop Tyson Fury, because, to be honest, Tyson was not 100 per cent focused in the gym.
“For me, my opinion is the signed contract with Usyk affected his mind for the Ngannou fight.”
Bakole, 30, added: “I’ve never seen Tyson training like that.
“He was doing four rounds, six rounds in the gym for sparring… Maybe he’s watching this and knows he wasn’t 100 per cent focused.
“That’s not the Tyson Fury I know when he was preparing for Klitschko, Chisora, and Dillian Whyte. This was different.”