TYSON FURY SPARRING PARTNER EXPLAINS WHY HE LEFT TRAINING CAMP FOR OLEKSANDR USYK FIGHT

Tyson Fury's sparring partner Jai Opetaia has rubbished claims he dropped the heavyweight world champion in training.

Fury had drafted in the cruiserweight champion to help him prepare for his clash with Oleksandr Usyk which was initially scheduled for February 17. But Opetaia left the Brit's Saudi Arabia training camp within days in order to prepare for his clash with Marius Breidis on the undercard.

His decision sparked rumours that he had dropped Fury in sparring, raising concerns over the heavyweight's preparation for his undisputed meeting with Usyk. But Opetaia has denied the rumour, telling Seconds Out : "All b******t It’s annoying reporters spread absolute lies."

Expanding on his time in camp, Opetaia added: "It was a great experience. I’m so grateful to be called into that camp, being surrounded by other champions and world-class athletes, it’s just a whole other learning curve to be part of their camp for a week and a bit to see how they do things. It was all positive. He earned my respect and I’m sure I earned his.

"I was there a week. If I wasn’t fighting on the same card I would have stayed longer. I’m fighting Breidis, I’m not fighting someone 6ft9, so it didn’t make too much sense for me to stay around, and I needed some orthodox sparring. We thought it would be smart to come home and finish our camp so we did."

Fury was forced to postpone his clash with Usyk and the heavyweight champions will now meet on May 18. And Fury has no plans to hang up his gloves any time soon. “I’m not really proving anybody wrong or right any more, I’m just doing it for the fun and love of the game really," he said.

"I could have retired maybe 10 years ago and lived a very nice life. However, I do it because, let’s face facts, I don’t really have much else to do other than taking the kids to school, emptying the bins and picking up dog s***. But other than that, boxing is my love. I’ll continue to do it until I can’t do any more."

2024-04-19T14:15:56Z dg43tfdfdgfd