Tyson’s father John received a lot of stick for his involvement in his son’s defeat to Usyk earlier this year, with many calling him to be sacked ahead of the sequel
Former boxing world champion Johnny Nelson insists John Fury was not to blame for his son Tyson’s defeat to Oleksandr Usyk earlier this year.
The Ukrainian heavyweight star handed Fury the first defeat of his professional career back in May, winning via split-decision in Riyadh. Following the win, the 37-year-old became the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis back in 1999. The two stars are scheduled to head-to-head for a second time on December 21 – with ‘The Gypsy King’ desperate for revenge.
Fury Sr was in Tyson’s corner back and May and received a lot of criticism for his advice in the closing stages of the heavyweight brawl. While one was heard saying: “Don’t cross your god damn legs, be ready to punch. Don’t be afraid to slide in, quit pulling back or you’ll get caught”, his father was heard screaming: “One round to undisputed”.
In the end, only one judge agreed, with the other two giving Usyk the nod. Many, including boxing legend Ricky Hatton, have since called for Tyson to remove his father ahead of the sequel. Despite John receiving a lot of criticism, Nelson believes the 59-year-old was not to blame.
The former cruiserweight champion wrote in his Sky Sports column: “Oleksandr Usyk’s got the blueprint to beat Tyson Fury. You can’t blame the corner. They were all making noise about all the voices in Tyson’s corner. I don’t think it made any difference. I remember sparring with Tyson at the back end of my career and his dad was ringside, shouting and screaming at him and Tyson stopped in the ring and turned to his dad and said: ‘You get in the ring and spar with him.’ And they’re arguing. Tyson’s used to that.
“It’s no big deal. He just underestimated the man that was in front of him and now he’s got to give him respect where respect’s due. Usually he intimidates his opponent. He’ll insult them, he’ll undermine them, he’ll get in their face. He’ll be a bully or he’ll try and pal up with them. Usyk was having none of it and that’s where Tyson struggled. It was lost in translation.”
Ahead of the rematch, Nelson has offered the Brit some crucial advice as Fury looks to become a three-time heavyweight world champion. “Fury has to be disciplined. He has to go out there no nonsense, use the jab, use the switch-hitting style that he’s got. Because he does it with ease,” Nelson added. “He’s the one that can switch from southpaw to orthodox without thinking twice about it and he had a lot of success doing that throughout the fight.”
Speaking to Paul Dempsey ahead of the release of the new boxing game, ‘Undisputed,’ in October, Fury revealed he will not be making any changes to his team. “Not much time,” he said. “I know what I’ve got to do, nothing drastic. People can say ‘I want to change trainers or I’ll blame it on me conditioning coach or I’ll blame it on the cook or I’ll blame it on the mouse next door.’ Same team, same everything. I know what I’ve got to do.”
He added: “I thought I won the fight last time. I give him, me boxing all my life and watching boxing me whole career, I give him rounds eight, nine and ten, and round nine was a 10-8. So that’s what I give him out of the fight, but obviously the judges saw it a bit different, couple of them did. One of them had me winning. That’s what it was. It was as close as it can be.”