Fury shrouds tactics in mystery at public training, Usyk camp sees ‘serious monk’

Tyson Fury did virtually nothing during today’s public in-ring training in Riyadh ahead of his rematch with unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.

The Gypsy King looked and sounded like a grumpy Fallen king, not a happy camper. Fury may not be happy with the many fans giving him no chance of winning the rematch against Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) on Saturday night.

So, to pay them back, he withholds, does not surrender and shows the classic passive-aggressive behavior. Fury is very easy to read.

Minimal movement

Fury’s actions today came down to these four things:

1. He entered the ring and took off his jacket.
2. Put on the gloves
3. he took them off
4. A few words before leaving the ring

All the fans and media who had come out today to watch former WBC heavyweight champion Fury train were left with very little to see as he retained his movements and demeanor.

From Fury’s point of view, it’s understandable that he didn’t want to waste energy working or give away anything Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) could get.

Fury is approaching 37 years old and he can’t afford to waste his precious energy during training because he’ll need everything he can get to move his massive 6’9″ frame around the ring on Saturday night at the Kingdom Arena.

Silent treatment

It’s a sign of an older fighter when he conserves his energy during the final public workouts the week of his fights. Younger fighters use the time to work hard, impress fans and media, and stay agile.

Fury has looked haggard and exhausted this week, after recovering from a tough training camp and a bad beating last May in his loss to Usyk. That fight required a lot of fury, leaving him in the devastated physical state we’ve seen this week.

“A lot of pain,” Tyson Fury said when asked after today’s public workout what fans can expect on Saturday night for his fight against Oleksandr Usyk. “Crush and damage.”

“A lot of pain,” Fury said when asked by DAZN’s Claudia Trejo if he plans to be clean-shaven on Saturday. “Hurt, seriously hurt. “A lot of damage.”

During the interview, she wanted more from Fury but wasn’t willing to give it to him. At that moment, the it seemed almost childish. It was hard to watch that interview without feeling sorry for Trejo.

Fury couldn’t even speak. You can also read that as a sign that he wants to save his precious energy for the fight because even talking wastes fuel. When you have to have every ounce of strength, talking can take too much away from Fury. Looking at the minimalist approach to training and the interview, you can now see that the loss to Usyk has deeply affected Fury.

Fury didn’t just ignore him like he’s been saying. He is mortally wounded, like a shocked soldier returning from the front, unable to forget what happened and upset at not giving more of himself during the battle. That’s much worse than a soldier mentally dealing with battle fatigue from shelling. They are the ones who know they should have done more, but their nerve failed them.

Serious as a monk

“I see a completely different Tyson Fury. He doesn’t play anymore. We don’t see him smile. “This guy probably did his homework,” Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk said of Tyson Fury while watching him during his public workI’m not in the ring today.

“He probably realized that spoiling, wasting his energy on the media and making fun of his training camp is not the best idea. This time he stayed serious like a monk,” Krassyuk said of Fury. “Most likely he will try to make some corrections in his technique and tactics.

“I hope it will be a much more dramatic fight than the first one. Oleksandr Usyk was always under his skin. Tyson tried to do this with Oleksandr, but he had the advantage. He doesn’t speak English fluently. We have a saying in Ukraine. “The bigger the closet, the louder the noise when it falls.”