Carl Froch has heard that Tyson Fury is cutting corners ahead of his undisputed fight with Oleksandr Usyk.
Following his October showdown with Francis Ngannou, Fury has gone straight into his next training camp with little if any time off to fully recover. He has less than eight weeks to get in shape and right some of the wrongs that saw the usually imperious boxer at times struggle with the former MMA champion, including being clipped and knocked down in the third round.
Most fans believe Usyk will be his biggest-ever challenge. The technical Ukrainian southpaw has a wide array of skills, fast feet and hands as well as a high boxing IQ. He is hoping to become the first undisputed cruiserweight turned undisputed heavyweight of the four-belt era – a feat that Evander Holyfield managed back in the three-belt era of the 80s and 90s.
Former champion turned pundit Froch believes the tougher-than-predicted Ngannou fight will be a ‘wake up’ call for Fury.
Talking on TalkSportBoxing, he spoke of the dangers of underestimating an opponent.
“When you go in the ring thinking something is a foregone conclusion, you haven’t got the eye of the tiger, the mindset of a winner, you take your time and take it lightly and something goes wrong. If he rematched Ngannou I’m sure he he could outbox and outclass him. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen that night.”
Froch went on to say he’s heard from inside the training camp that Fury doesn’t want to do the long runs or hard spars anymore.
“Moving forward he has to be the best he can possibly be. I think he’s past his best. He holds his weight, he’s slowing down, he’s cumbersome. I’ve had a bit of feedback from his training camp, he doesn’t really want to run like he used to and sparring is not what it was. It’s the same as AJ, the silver pyjama scenario. You check your bank balance and think why am I fighting? He doesn’t really want it.”
For his part, Usyk has admitted he already thinks he lost the mental game when the pair first came face to face.