Tyson Fury is still recovering from a cut sustained in camp when preparing for Oleksandr Usyk and now his cutman has revealed exactly when The Gypsy King will be able to return to sparring ahead of that fight.
The cut was inflicted on Fury by a Croatian sparring partner very late in the day ahead of the first scheduled fate for this historic undisputed fight back in February.
After that setback, many in the boxing world began to wonder if Fury would make the rescheduled date, and started to ask if he was in decline.
Some fans even began circulating conspiracy theories that he self-inflicted the wound in order to buy more time for a longer camp and more preparation after his below par showing against Francis Ngannou in October which he narrowly won on points over 10 rounds.
Now, speaking to Betway, cutman Jorge Capetillo, who previously had to deal with Fury’s huge cut in the fight with Otto Wallin, has addressed the issue.
“The fight is going to be in May so he should be going back to sparring in two or three weeks’ time but the good thing is, he has been active with fighting Francis Ngannou recently and for him to get the distance and timing again is going to be easy because he has remained in the gym. Activity is the key and it’s his advantage for the fight.”
He was then asked if the cut could re-open during the fight.
“There’s always a possibility that it could happen, but Tyson has to do what he is good at with his distance, reach, not trying to knock him out in one punch but set him up with big punches by using faints and his footwork and IQ in the ring. It is a matter of good timing, reach and his footwork being at his best for the fight.
“For a heal, like 90 days but it’s been 60 days or more since the cut so I am sure with the right treatment, he should be ready for May 18 and soon he can start with some light sparring, nothing hard but to get the reach and distance right. It is more important than power punches with reach and timing. He’ll probably be ready for sparring in the next couple of weeks.
Tyson has to treat the cut well before the fight and do sparring sessions with nice head gear and start with nothing crazy to make sure he doesn’t get hit hard so it doesn’t re-open but I’m going to put emphasis on this, he needs his reach and timing right and if they are on point, it is game over for Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson will be on top.”
Only time will tell what bearing Fury’s injury will have on the historic contest.