Tyson Fury did virtually nothing during today's public ring workout in Riyadh ahead of his rematch with unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Gypsy King looked and sounded like grumpy a fallen king, not a happy camper. Fury may not be happy with the number of fans who aren't giving him a chance to win his rematch against Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) on Saturday night.
So, in order to repay them, he denies himself, does not give himself and shows the classics passive-aggressive behavior. Fury is so easy to read.
Minimal movement
Fury's actions today came down to these four things:
- Entered the ring and took off his jacket
- Put gloves on him
- Took them off
- A few words before leaving the ring
All the fans and media who came out today to watch the training of the former WBC heavyweight champion Fury were left with very little to see as he kept his movements and behavior under wraps.
From Fury's point of view, it's understandable that he didn't want to waste energy doing or giving away anything Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) could muster.
Fury is approaching 37 years old and 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 Kingdom Arena.
The silent treatment
It is a sign of an older fighter when he conserves his energy during the last public training sessions of his fight week. Younger fighters use the time to work hard, impress fans and media, and stay flexible.
Fury looked exhausted and spent this week, after recovering from a tough training camp and a bad loss to Usyk last May. That fight took a toll on Fury, leaving him in as bad a physical state as we've seen this week.
“It hurts a lot,” Tyson Fury said when asked after today's public workout what fans can expect Saturday night for his fight against Oleksandr Usyk. “Break and damage.”
“Very hurt,” Fury said when asked by DAZN's Claudia Trejo if he planned to shave on Saturday. “Hurt, serious. A lot of damage.”
During the interview, she wanted more from Fury, but didn't want to give it. At that moment he looked almost childish. It was hard to watch that interview without feeling sorry for Treja.
Fury couldn't even bring himself to speak. You can also read this as a sign that he wants to save his precious energy for fighting, because talking also consumes fuel. When you have to have every ounce of strength, the conversation might take too much out of Fury. Looking at the minimalistic approach to training and the interview, you can now see that the loss to Usyk hit Fury deeply.
Fury didn't just brush it off like he was saying. He was mortally wounded, like shell-shocked soldier returning from the battlefield, unable to forget what had happened and upset that he had not given more of himself during the battle. This is much worse than a soldier mentally dealing with combat fatigue due to shelling. These are the ones who know they should have done more, but their nerves gave way.
Serious as a monk
“I see a completely different Tyson Fury. He doesn't play anymore. We don't see him smiling. This man probably did his homework,” Usyk's promoter, Alex Krassyuk, said of Tyson Fury while watching him during his public worktoday in the ring.
He probably realized that smearing, wasting energy on the media and making fun of his training camp was not the best idea. This time he was as serious as a monk,” Krassyuk said of Fury. “He will most likely try to make some corrections in his technique and tactics.
“I expect it to be a much more dramatic fight than the first one. Oleksandr Usyk was always under his skin. Tyson tried it with Oleksandr, but he had the advantage. He doesn't speak English fluently. We have a saying in Ukraine. 'The bigger the wardrobe, the louder the noise when it falls.'
