Tyson Fury has admitted he regrets not accepting a £10million fine to further postpone his first fight with Oleksandr Usyk, which he went on to lose.
The British heavyweight, who initially delayed the bout from February to May after suffering a cut in sparring, now believes taking additional time would have been beneficial despite the hefty financial penalty.
“Thinking sensible, maybe I would have pushed it back a little bit and cost myself £10m,” Fury said ahead of Saturday’s rematch.
The initial postponement came after Fury sustained a cut during his sparring preparations for the February date.
Tyson Fury was beaten by Oleksandr Usyk in their first fightPA
A second delay would have triggered the substantial £10million penalty clause, leading Fury to proceed with the May fight despite not being fully prepared.
“This time it’s been a lot easier,” Fury explained.
“I’ve done lots of sparring and I’ve been able to train properly, whereas before it’s no secret that I didn’t do a lot of sparring, hence I had a massive bounty on my cut eye.”
Looking ahead to Saturday’s rematch, Fury has vowed to reduce his showboating after reflecting on his performance in the first bout.
“I don’t believe the showboating cost me the fight but I need to be more focused this time and not do as much,” he said.
Tyson Fury has admitted he is taking the rematch a lot more seriouslyReuters
The heavyweight’s in-ring antics drew criticism, with Fury recalling: “One of the commentators picked up on it and said, ‘has anybody ever seen clown this much, even against lower level opposition?’.
“That’s how easy it was for me in there and you can get complacent because of that.”
Despite losing the first fight, Fury remains convinced his original tactics were largely correct for facing Usyk.
“Because it was a very close fight, I don’t really need to change much. I just need to be a little bit more focused and that’s it really,” he said.
The Brit believes he controlled most of the contest, stating: “Why would I change something when I had control of the fight for maybe 80 per cent of it?”
He noted his success in “landing on him at will, head and body, lead right uppercuts, left hooks, right hooks to the body.”
Tyson Fury will face Oleksandr Usyk again on December 21Reuters
Looking ahead to the rematch, Fury insists he will maintain his fundamental approach against the Ukrainian champion.
“I’m just going to use my [tactics] like I did last time. I’m not going to do anything drastic, like a total change of gameplan because it’s not needed,” Fury explained.
The British boxer also shared his view on how Usyk must approach the fight, stating: “He ain’t going to outbox me on the back foot. It’s not possible. So he has to come forward and make a fight of it.”
+ There are no comments
Add yours