Inside Team Fury – Part III

By Hennessy Sports - 02/11/2015 - Comments

By Peter Fury (courtesy of Hennessy Sports): Family. It’s the most important thing to me, it’s life’s beating heart, and it means more than all the world titles a fighter can win.

Today the Fury family grows stronger as my brother, John, is released from prison following a four-and-a-half year sentence. It’s a happy day, a cause for celebration, and I’m just glad we get to have him home. It gives us the chance to put all of this misery behind us. Now we can concentrate on the boxing.

We’re taking this afternoon off and we’ll go out for a meal to celebrate his release. Then we’ll be back in the gym this evening and there’ll be sparring. John will be right in the mix and it will be like he never went away.

He’s going to be working full-time with me here, doing pads, and he’ll be a big asset to us. He can help me out in many different ways.

For example, there’s a lot of lads in the gym and it’s a bit much for me to take them all on the pads at the same time. But I can now split it up a bit, and it’s nice to have a good pad man who knows what he’s doing. It allows me to take a step back, have a proper look at them and then fix anything I see.

Of course, it’s great to work alongside your brother because you’ve got that natural communication. I’ve only got to say, ‘Right, make him slip that shot and come around to the body,’ and John knows exactly what I mean. He can interpret everything I want from a fighter. Sometimes it doesn’t even require words. He just understands what I want and will act on it. He knows where I’m coming from.

This is all going to be a big plus for me because I’ve always seen myself as more of a tactician, a technical strategist, someone who works on different things to allow a fighter to find the range to get their shots off. There’s a lot involved with training, though, so it’s good to now have my brother doing more on the physical side.

When you step up to world level, you need to put all your energy into the technical side of things because that’s what can make the difference. They’re all tough and fit at world level. The great fighters just happen to have that something extra technically.

I’ve always said my dream for Tyson and Hughie is for them to be like the two Klitschkos. Well, they’ve now got two fathers training them and it couldn’t be any better. We’ve got a tight bond, a close family unit, which is exactly what we need to drive them to do great things.

My family is my life. We lost our oldest brother, Hughie, last year and that completely messed us up. We still haven’t got over it. John and I were talking about it only three days ago. Things won’t ever be the same for us. We know that. We lost a part of our family.

We’ve just got to buckle in now and focus on the young ones. It’s all about them now. We’ve got my brother’s son, Dempsey, who is carrying the torch and I can make his father proud through him. I can help him achieve something in his father’s memory. That motivates me, that cheers me up, it keeps me going. If I put all of my efforts into him, I know his father will be looking down on us with a smile.

In fact, before my brother died, we had a conversation and he agreed to come and help train my son, Hughie, while I helped train Dempsey. We were going to share the responsibility. We’d have all been here at the gym together.

That never happened, though. But his son is training here with us now and I’m privileged and honoured to bear that responsibility. Family, for me, is about keeping everyone together as one unit and going forward as a united front.

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By Peter Fury: Sparring began for real on Monday and it was great to see Tyson and Hughie get put through their paces by a number of quality heavyweights.

For this particular camp we’ve got Kevin Johnson, the American heavyweight due to fight Anthony Joshua in April, as well as Marcin Rekowski, who is 15-1, and Sean ‘Sexy’ Turner from Dublin. It’s a nice mix of experience and youth.

We’ve had Kevin twice in camp now and it’s always good to have him around. He’s a good lad, Kevin, and he’s the ultimate professional. He does his job properly. When he’s got the bit between his teeth and has a big fight coming up, you get good work out of him. He does what he needs to do and is ideal for what we need.

Not everybody is, though. The likes of Johnson come back to us because they like what they see, we’re fair with them and they want to return. The ones who don’t come back, however, are the ones who come over and don’t perform in sparring. They don’t give me what I want. Some of them come over and think they’re just getting an easy payday. They do the bare minimum and expect that to be enough. Then comes the reality check. We soon get rid of them.

Sparring, I believe, is majorly important to a fighter’s development. You have to have it because it helps detect any mistakes and flaws. You’ll quickly pick up on and work on mistakes if a boxer is being punished by a sparring partner every time he makes one. Sparring puts boxers under pressure. They’re getting punched back and they’re simulating a fight.

Also, when you have sparring partners they’re not used to, and you then rotate them – in and out – it’s a different ball game. It’s impossible for Tyson and Hughie to get accustomed to any one style. Just when they think they’ve sussed one of the sparring partners, he’ll jump out and another one will jump in. It teaches them to be adjustable and to develop not just one way of fighting but a variety of ways of fighting.

Typically, I’ll have a sparring partner do no more than one round at a time. Johnson, for example, will do a round and will then be replaced by Rekwoski. After Rekowski’s done a round, he’ll be replaced by Turner and so on. I find it keeps them fresh if I’m only giving them a round at a time. They know they can give their maximum effort for that one round and then refresh afterwards ready for the next round we need from them.

Tyson and Hughie, during these sessions, will simply work on what they’re being told. It’s almost as if the opponent in front of them doesn’t exist. They’ll just go through the motions and work on what they need to work on. They’ll work on their flaws. If we’re looking to work a certain style, they’ll practice that and make the mistakes in sparring rather than on fight night itself. They’re just working on their game plan. It’s not about getting the better of the sparring partner or beating them up. That doesn’t prove anything at this stage. They have no interest in that. They’re simply focused on working towards fight night.

All in all, I’ll look for Tyson and Hughie to spar five days a week and they’ll do ten rounds each. It’s enough.

For Hughie, in particular, this camp is vital. Hughie is in a big fight and he’s right up there now and ready to go in with the big boys. He’s always done full-on sparring, to be fair, so this is nothing new to him. The only things that have hampered Hughie in the past have been health issues.

But now he’s back to full strength and he’s going okay so far. So far, so good. He doesn’t have a problem being thrown into hard sparring. He can mix it with the best. He’s shown that in previous camps; anybody who has shared the ring with him knows how good Hughie Fury is…

*** Hughie Fury fights dangerman Andriy Rudenko over ten rounds on February 21 in Monte Carlo, televised by Channel 5. Meanwhile, Tyson Fury defends his WBO International heavyweight title against Christian Hammer on February 28 at the O2 Arena, live on BoxNation ***

Head coach Peter Fury lifts the lid on training camp as Tyson Fury and Hughie Fury prepare for big fights in February

By Peter Fury: Ask any professional boxer to name the toughest part of their profession and they’ll tell you training camp stands out above everything else. It’s often tougher than a gruelling 12-rounder and it’s often tougher than taking a beating on fight night. Training camp can last for months and it only ever gets harder.

In camp right now we’ve got Tyson Fury, Hughie Fury and young Dempsey Fury, who is having his first fight with us (also on February 28). Training is intense at the moment and we’re looking forward to starting sparring next Monday. That’s when full sparring will begin for three weeks.

Everything is going well and they’re all in good spirits and looking fit and healthy. All three kids can’t wait to get into the ring and get away from training camp. This is the hard part right here. Training camp is so intense, so difficult and so mundane, they can’t wait to get into that ring and take it out on the opponents.

Still, we rotate things to keep it fresh. For example, last Monday we ran up a steep hill in long grass and snow, and this Monday we ran up a steep hill on tarmac.

The boxers will do some intense cardio in the mornings, which could be short sprint work to build up power, and in the afternoon they’ll do some weights and power exercises. Then, in the evening, they’ll do two hours of boxing, which involves skipping, sparring, bag work and pad work.

On a Tuesday, they’ll do some more cardio work, maybe a sprint around the track or some circuits, and we’ll even throw in some light weights with the circuit. On the days they don’t spar, I’ll take them on the pads and do some technical work with them.

All in all, they train three times a day on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and then on Thursday and Friday they train two times a day. They train twice a day on Thursday because they do a heavy circuit and pads and they train twice a day on a Friday because they spar in the morning and do a heavy leg session in the afternoon.

On Saturday, Tyson will go for a long run and Hughie will go for a swim. They then rest up until Monday. Then we go through it all over again…

For now, Hughie and Tyson have been doing a lot of body sparring just to sharpen up. But soon we’ll bring in sparring partners from all over the world to give them something different. This allows Tyson and Hughie to both let loose a bit and spar full-on.

They all drive each other on in camp. Tyson, Hughie and Dempsey are a family unit and they have that tight bond and competitiveness about them. They have a different bond to what they’d have with anybody else. They’re all being pushed and all doing it together. Time and time again people come into our gym and don’t last. They come with the best intentions in the world but fall by the wayside. They can’t stick with it. These three, though, maybe because of the family bond, seem to just grind it out when the going gets tough.

From my perspective, balancing so many fighters is something you have to get used to. I’m used to it now. So long as I’m happy with the attention I’m giving them, that’s all that matters. I know I don’t cut corners and know I’m happy with the attention I give each of them. I’m able to look at each of them, identify what they need to work on and then go about rectifying any problems.

I’m pleased with what I’m seeing from all three of them. Tyson is a super athlete and everybody is trying to keep up with him, but Hughie is doing a lot better in this camp. He’s had a three week head-start on the rest of them, so he’s ahead right now in the fitness stakes, but Tyson is catching up very fast.

The reason Tyson is playing catch-up is because he beat Dereck Chisora at the end of November and then took December off. As you can imagine, it’s often difficult for a fighter to take Christmas off, enjoy some family time and then get back to the gym. It’s hard getting back into training at a heavy pace. Tyson is no different. He’s got weight to lose as well. But he’s doing okay with it, to be fair. He’s cracking on, he’s training hard, and the weight is coming off the way it should do.

I think he can motivate himself at this point. He’s experienced enough and good enough to know what he has to do to fulfil his potential and achieve his goals. As a trainer, you don’t just physically prepare these guys, you also have to work on the mental side of things. You have to motivate them and psyche them up. There are a lot of things involved. You play a vital part because you’re with them 24 hours a day. All you ask is that a fighter has the capability to listen and that they believe in the things you are telling them.

As for Hughie, I’m pleased to report he’s been responding very well to training. We found out the reason for his illness last year and it happened to be an intolerance to certain foods. We’ve cut them out and he’s now responding magnificently. How he boxed with all the problems he had is beyond me; everything he was intolerant to was stuff he was eating during the first year of his pro career. It was making him literally sick. This kid has been fighting and spewing his guts up every time.

It’s a relief to have him back in the gym at full health and to not have him feeling ill and drained all the time. He’s probably only ever been at 40%, so we’re looking for a big improvement this year providing his health continues along the right path.

Finally, congratulations to Deontay Wilder on becoming WBC world heavyweight champion. He defeated Bermane Stiverne a couple of weekends back and became the first American to win a version of the world heavyweight title since 2006.

The result was never really in doubt. Stiverne came in out of shape and that surprised me; as WBC champion, I didn’t expect him to come in looking as out of shape as he did. I was a bit disappointed with that.

I’m not going to take anything away from Wilder’s performance, though. I think he did okay and did what he had to do. He boxed similarly to how Tyson boxed against Dereck Chisora. He used the same tactics. He realised Stiverne is bad on the front foot and made him come forward. He put Stiverne in an uncomfortable position and that’s the way a tall fighter should box a small fighter. He used the right tactics and boxed the right fight.

I’m happy for Wilder and happy he got the win. He beat a good fella in Stiverne and looked good doing it. No, Stiverne wasn’t at his best, but, even if he had been, the result might not have been any different. This is what you get when a tall fighter boxes a short fighter and the tall fighter knows how to use his range. It’s why we’ve seen Wladimir Klitschko reign for so long at the top of the heavyweight division.

The giant heavyweights of this era have to know how to make the most of their attributes. That’s what Tyson and Hughie are telling themselves on a daily basis…