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23-year-old Fury, who hails from a travelling community, has amassed an unbeaten 17-0 record since turning pro in 2008 but has deployed a string of trainers en route to capturing the British and Commonwealth heavyweight crowns with a points victory over Dereck Chisora. Hughie Fury, Brian Hughes, Robert McCracken and most recently ex-pro Chris Johnson have all featured in Tyson’s corner, but the 6’9" giant has still to settle on a permanent trainer.
“After Tyson won the British and Commonwealth titles, Tyson started sparring very aggressively and was doing the opposite of what I was telling him to do. He then asked for a conditioner, amongst other things, but Tyson’s problems were never down to his condition,” began Hughie Fury when contacted by BoxRec News.
“I don’t care who you are, you could be Angelo Dundee, but If you aren’t the boss then you’re not cut out for training Tyson. I’m his uncle and I could insult him and make him do it (train), but it was hard. Tyson won’t stick with anyone. He’s all round the shop with lots of different trainers because he’ll always blame them. He’s my own nephew but I couldn’t train him as soon as he set foot off my property.
“When he lived in my backyard in his caravan he had enough money to buy a house and could have lived in a lot better comfort (Fury has since moved on and bought a property now). I knew that once he left there he was finished because he’s got serious mental problems regarding how he prepares for fights – he doesn’t think about his opponent until the fight is less than a week away,” continued Hughie Fury.
According to Hughie, matters came to a head when Tyson expressed his desire to move into world class territory and take on Vitali or Wladimir Klitschko which triggered a stark difference of opinion between fighter and trainer.
“I told him he wasn’t ready for them (the Klitschkos) because it was too big a jump from British title level which I believe 99.9% of people will agree with me on. This led to us having a disagreement and he started wanting to train his own way. With Tyson you were always walking a tightrope with him. He’s well and truly jumped off it now and the best thing you can do is let him get on with it. He’s finished now and will be lucky to win two more fights unless they match him carefully and he starts listening.
“If he was to fight the Klitschkos he’d go in there half-****ed like a man with a plan, except he won’t because he hasn’t got one because he wouldn’t listen and he’d get in the ring and get knocked spark out. But anyway (Vitali) Klitschko isn’t going to fight him. He’s got to defend against Dereck Chisora, then he’ll box his mandatory and I doubt that (Fury’s promoter) Mick Hennessy will be able to tempt him over to England with a fortune.
"So what’s he going to do? Go to Germany and get robbed? He can’t even win a spar. When we’ve been over there previously and Tyson’s been bashing their men up they start extending the clock during the rounds until he’s ****ed.
“We’ve got to be realistic and recognise that Tyson isn’t a big puncher for a heavyweight and he’s not going to outpoint either Klitschko brother in Germany. I’m not saying Tyson can’t hit at all but he’s not a dynamite lights out puncher like Mike Tyson,” surmised Hughie.
Hughie Fury also disagrees with Tyson’s decision to swerve fighting domestic rival David Price in favour of trying to secure a world title shot, a move which in his opinion could come back to haunt him.
“Tyson wants to fight one of the Klitschkos because he thinks he’ll land a big pay day, say 150 grand which is serious money, but by racking up learning fights in the meantime he would have accumulated that amount of money anyway whilst learning something in the process. He’s got to be careful – right now I think most of the fighters in the top 10 beat him because he’s not ready.
“I’m disappointed by his decision (to vacate his titles). I wanted Tyson to defend his titles and change the British public’s perceptions of travellers. The public don’t want a traveller to be British champion. We effectively live in a racist country and if Tyson were to paint his face black or brown they’d ****ing love him. People will want David Price to win it now. David Price is a stiff with a punch and Tyson could beat the crap out of him because Price is going nowhere. With me training him I’d know how Tyson could take Price to pieces."
Given that Hughie’s services have been dispensed with, might that suggest his own training philosophy was not conducive towards nurturing a talented yet raw heavyweight prospect and guiding them to the top?
“Tyson’s issues aren’t down to how much he trains, it’s because he tries to do too much. He has to win every spar; if you tell him to go and do six rounds he wants to do 15. He’s self-conscious about his physique because that’s just the way he’s built, so he starts dieting and by the time he gets in the ring without proper supervision he’s ****ed. He can box but he’s got no brain when it comes to preparation.
“I don’t know where Tyson is going to go from here because Price doesn’t need to fight him now. I’m not a promoter but he probably would have had until May to get ready for the fight.
“Six days before the first fight with John McDermott, Tyson sparred ten rounds in Germany in a full-out war and he was going from the Universum gym to the Sauerland gym every ay for a fortnight, sparring ten rounds each day and in the mornings he would run sometimes 10km with Sebastian Sylvester. That isn’t training, that’s leaving everything on the road and in the gym because you’ve got no sense.”
Undeniably frustrated at the direction in which he perceives Tyson’s career is heading in, Hughie understands Tyson better than most and, whether he’d care to admit or not, one gets the impression that deep down he wants him to succeed. A reconciliation, at least in a fighter-trainer capacity, seems highly unlikely, however.
“When you’re talking to Tyson he’ll just acknowledge you but he isn’t listening to you – you’d have to see it to believe it. This is common for lots of young traveller lads and it starts when they’re about 15. They’ll look at you as if to say ‘who are you talking to?’ It’s not Mick Hennessy’s fault, he knows about as much as what goes on in Tyson’s head as you know.
“I don’t train for money, I’m a landlord and I don’t need money. I’m certainly not prepared to kiss someone’s arse for a pound. That was the problem all along, he didn’t like me kicking his arse.
"I do confess that I don’t like the public’s attitudes towards travellers and that does drive me on. I’d love Tyson to flatten Price and prove that he can’t box. I’ve got one side pulling on me to try and help him but the other side saying to me ‘let that big prick **** off’ because what he’s got I don’t need,” reflected Hughie candidly.
“Even if I was to make him world champion, which is doubtful because he hasn’t got the power - but let’s say I got lucky, he’d turn his arse on you and **** off. The Klitschkos must be thinking ‘whose does this ****ing idiot think he is at 23?’ Tyson’s a ****ing fool but God doesn’t bless you with everything.
“I’d rather train a bantamweight who trains like an African slave and does his job right instead of some big, fat **** who’s 6’9".
"Tyson’s wasting his talent. I don’t care if I offend the boxing establishment, the world establishment or the ****ing Queen. I’m a gypsy man who tells like it is and I don’t compromise for anyone,” he added.
“After Tyson won the British and Commonwealth titles, Tyson started sparring very aggressively and was doing the opposite of what I was telling him to do. He then asked for a conditioner, amongst other things, but Tyson’s problems were never down to his condition,” began Hughie Fury when contacted by BoxRec News.
“I don’t care who you are, you could be Angelo Dundee, but If you aren’t the boss then you’re not cut out for training Tyson. I’m his uncle and I could insult him and make him do it (train), but it was hard. Tyson won’t stick with anyone. He’s all round the shop with lots of different trainers because he’ll always blame them. He’s my own nephew but I couldn’t train him as soon as he set foot off my property.
“When he lived in my backyard in his caravan he had enough money to buy a house and could have lived in a lot better comfort (Fury has since moved on and bought a property now). I knew that once he left there he was finished because he’s got serious mental problems regarding how he prepares for fights – he doesn’t think about his opponent until the fight is less than a week away,” continued Hughie Fury.
According to Hughie, matters came to a head when Tyson expressed his desire to move into world class territory and take on Vitali or Wladimir Klitschko which triggered a stark difference of opinion between fighter and trainer.
“I told him he wasn’t ready for them (the Klitschkos) because it was too big a jump from British title level which I believe 99.9% of people will agree with me on. This led to us having a disagreement and he started wanting to train his own way. With Tyson you were always walking a tightrope with him. He’s well and truly jumped off it now and the best thing you can do is let him get on with it. He’s finished now and will be lucky to win two more fights unless they match him carefully and he starts listening.
“If he was to fight the Klitschkos he’d go in there half-****ed like a man with a plan, except he won’t because he hasn’t got one because he wouldn’t listen and he’d get in the ring and get knocked spark out. But anyway (Vitali) Klitschko isn’t going to fight him. He’s got to defend against Dereck Chisora, then he’ll box his mandatory and I doubt that (Fury’s promoter) Mick Hennessy will be able to tempt him over to England with a fortune.
"So what’s he going to do? Go to Germany and get robbed? He can’t even win a spar. When we’ve been over there previously and Tyson’s been bashing their men up they start extending the clock during the rounds until he’s ****ed.
“We’ve got to be realistic and recognise that Tyson isn’t a big puncher for a heavyweight and he’s not going to outpoint either Klitschko brother in Germany. I’m not saying Tyson can’t hit at all but he’s not a dynamite lights out puncher like Mike Tyson,” surmised Hughie.
Hughie Fury also disagrees with Tyson’s decision to swerve fighting domestic rival David Price in favour of trying to secure a world title shot, a move which in his opinion could come back to haunt him.
“Tyson wants to fight one of the Klitschkos because he thinks he’ll land a big pay day, say 150 grand which is serious money, but by racking up learning fights in the meantime he would have accumulated that amount of money anyway whilst learning something in the process. He’s got to be careful – right now I think most of the fighters in the top 10 beat him because he’s not ready.
“I’m disappointed by his decision (to vacate his titles). I wanted Tyson to defend his titles and change the British public’s perceptions of travellers. The public don’t want a traveller to be British champion. We effectively live in a racist country and if Tyson were to paint his face black or brown they’d ****ing love him. People will want David Price to win it now. David Price is a stiff with a punch and Tyson could beat the crap out of him because Price is going nowhere. With me training him I’d know how Tyson could take Price to pieces."
Given that Hughie’s services have been dispensed with, might that suggest his own training philosophy was not conducive towards nurturing a talented yet raw heavyweight prospect and guiding them to the top?
“Tyson’s issues aren’t down to how much he trains, it’s because he tries to do too much. He has to win every spar; if you tell him to go and do six rounds he wants to do 15. He’s self-conscious about his physique because that’s just the way he’s built, so he starts dieting and by the time he gets in the ring without proper supervision he’s ****ed. He can box but he’s got no brain when it comes to preparation.
“I don’t know where Tyson is going to go from here because Price doesn’t need to fight him now. I’m not a promoter but he probably would have had until May to get ready for the fight.
“Six days before the first fight with John McDermott, Tyson sparred ten rounds in Germany in a full-out war and he was going from the Universum gym to the Sauerland gym every ay for a fortnight, sparring ten rounds each day and in the mornings he would run sometimes 10km with Sebastian Sylvester. That isn’t training, that’s leaving everything on the road and in the gym because you’ve got no sense.”
Undeniably frustrated at the direction in which he perceives Tyson’s career is heading in, Hughie understands Tyson better than most and, whether he’d care to admit or not, one gets the impression that deep down he wants him to succeed. A reconciliation, at least in a fighter-trainer capacity, seems highly unlikely, however.
“When you’re talking to Tyson he’ll just acknowledge you but he isn’t listening to you – you’d have to see it to believe it. This is common for lots of young traveller lads and it starts when they’re about 15. They’ll look at you as if to say ‘who are you talking to?’ It’s not Mick Hennessy’s fault, he knows about as much as what goes on in Tyson’s head as you know.
“I don’t train for money, I’m a landlord and I don’t need money. I’m certainly not prepared to kiss someone’s arse for a pound. That was the problem all along, he didn’t like me kicking his arse.
"I do confess that I don’t like the public’s attitudes towards travellers and that does drive me on. I’d love Tyson to flatten Price and prove that he can’t box. I’ve got one side pulling on me to try and help him but the other side saying to me ‘let that big prick **** off’ because what he’s got I don’t need,” reflected Hughie candidly.
“Even if I was to make him world champion, which is doubtful because he hasn’t got the power - but let’s say I got lucky, he’d turn his arse on you and **** off. The Klitschkos must be thinking ‘whose does this ****ing idiot think he is at 23?’ Tyson’s a ****ing fool but God doesn’t bless you with everything.
“I’d rather train a bantamweight who trains like an African slave and does his job right instead of some big, fat **** who’s 6’9".
"Tyson’s wasting his talent. I don’t care if I offend the boxing establishment, the world establishment or the ****ing Queen. I’m a gypsy man who tells like it is and I don’t compromise for anyone,” he added.
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