Exclusive interview with Peter Fury by Dan Emicus
When Tyson first came to you, his conditioning was sub-par and he was more a good fighter, as opposed to a good boxer. 18 months later and his conditioning has improved dramatically, he’s professional in his approach to fights, has solid boxing fundamentals, and has progressed leaps and bounds technically. How happy are you with his progress and do you expect a similar rate of progress between now and in another 18 months?
I’m delighted with his development and have put in endless hours every day over the last 12 months in particular. Every single area is painstakingly gone through. He is constantly improving technically, as well as in terms of conditioning, and come April we will see another level in Tyson again.
How did you rate Tyson’s performance last time out against Kevin Johnson? On the Channel 5 coverage, you were heard advising Tyson to stick to the gameplan and not allow the crowd to influence his boxing, so were you concerned at that point that Tyson might lose focus and try too hard to ‘entertain’ the crowd with a grandstand finish?
By Jeff Sorby: Unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. is claiming that he’s on the verge of fighting a unification bout against IBF welterweight champion Devon Alexander (24-1, 13 KO’s) on May 4th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
By James Slater: According to invaluable news site Fightnews.com, Puerto Rican veteran and long-time heavyweight contender “Fast” Fres Oquendo could be next for the mighty Wladimir Klitschko. “Dr. Steel Hammer” asked for permission to take a voluntary fight before his ordered defence against “regular” WBA heavyweight titlist Alexander Povetkin, and it looks like initial possibility Odlanier Solis is now out of the running and Oquendo, 35-7(23) is in pole position.
By John G. Thompson — As reported on various websites including a statement released by Christy Spinks on Boxingscene.com, her husband, thirty-four year old Cory “The Next Generation” Spinks (39-8, 11 KO’s) is retiring from the sport of boxing following his loss to Carlos “King” Molina (21-5-2, 6 KO’s) this past Friday night.
Juergen Braehmer is the new European Light Heavyweight Champion. After twelve exciting rounds, the 34-year-old won an unanimous decision over previous titlist Eduard Gutknecht in Berlin on Saturday night.
By James Slater – Though some fans were a little turned off by unbeaten pound-for-pounder Timothy Bradley after his hugely controversial points win over superstar Manny Pacquiao – most people referring to the June 2012 split decision as a blatant robbery – the subsequent time spent out of the ring by “Desert Storm” has been unfortunate. Some fans seem to feel Bradley, 29-0(12) should have raised his hands after June 9th last year, and admitted he didn’t really defeat Pac-Man, but of course he didn’t and who can be surprised by this (have you EVER known a winning fighter confess that he didn’t deserve the victory he was awarded)?
By Michael Collins: Last Saturday night, super middleweight Andre Dirrell (21-1, 14 KO’s) showed boxing fans why he was so highly hyped in the past by beating an out of his class 2nd tier fighter Michael Gbenga (14-7, 14 KO’s) by an impressive 10 round unanimous decision at the Convention Center in McAllen, Texas.
By Michael Collins: Former WBA light welterweight champion Gavin Rees (37-1-1, 18 KO’s) figured he’d be an underdog in his fight against WBC lightweight champion Adrien Broner (25-0, 21 KO’s) on February 16th, but Rees only now is finding out how much of an underdog he is with some betting agencies. Rees is reportedly an underdog 16-1 to 80-1, and he thinks the bigger numbers are just way too high given his experience and talent.