Tyson Fury is deep in training camp for the fight of his life against Oleksandr Usyk – the winner emerging from the ring in Saudi Arabia as the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis.
Following a below-par performance from ‘The Gypsy King’ against boxing debutant and former UFC Champion Francis Ngannou, some pundits questioned whether or not he still had it in him to defeat the always well-prepared Usyk.
Perhaps from that feedback, Fury has locked down his camp and held back from the social media taunts and updates that fans have come to expect.
Despite some insiders saying the WBC Champion is looking excellent in the gym, Jai Opetaia’s departure caused rumours to circulate on social media that he had gotten the better of Fury in sparring, even despite the Australian cruiserweight’s own team denying this.
Now, Johnny Nelson has said on TalkSPORT that he has heard similar.
“I’m hearing rumours about what’s happening in the gym. I’m hearing rumours he’s getting turned over in the gym. So this thing about Opetaia, people like that, he got shown his arse. Yeah man, that’s what I’m hearing. And I’m thinking has he taken his eye off the ball or has time caught up to him?”
Despite these claims, Nelson is still backing the Brit to win – that is if he prepares better than he did for Ngannou.
“Common sense tells me the good bigun’ will beat the good littleun’. As in Fury beating Usyk. Fury points.”
The two heavyweight champions face off in Riyadh on February 17.