Tyson Fury’s training partner Moses Itauma has revealed the former world champion was “a lot different” during preparations for his heavyweight title rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.
After Usyk in May became the heavyweight’s first undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis, Fury has the chance to avenge his first career defeat, live on Sky Sports Box Office on Saturday night.
Itauma, who is considered one of the brightest young prospects in the heavyweight division and fights on Saturday’s undercard, has been part of each of Fury’s training camps to prepare for Usyk.
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“He’s a lot different. His mentality has switched,” Itauma said at Tuesday’s grand arrivals ceremony in Riyadh.
“He wasn’t the nice guy anymore. He was actually there to train.
“Normally, when I did [previously] train with him in Saudi and Morecambe, we would spar together, bag, circuits together, run together, do strength and conditioning together, but this time he was like solely focused on doing it by himself.
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“And he was like, ‘I’m a lone soldier, I’m a lone wolf’.
“He would get hit with a good shot and he was screaming. I was like, ‘this guy’s a lunatic’. But to be in this sport you need to be a little bit mad.”
Itauma is adamant that Fury’s motivation for taking an immediate rematch is not financial, but that his compatriot is simply driven by a burning desire to avenge defeat.
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He added: “I don’t think Tyson’s doing this for the money. So, if he’s not doing it for the money, what is he doing it for?
“Because he actually wants to beat Oleksandr Usyk, and if he did do it for the money, he would have packed up a long time ago.
“So, with that in mind, people need to bear that in mind. Saturday night, it’s going to be Tyson Fury coming to fight, coming to win.
“I don’t feel like he’s going to just come and get knocked over, because he could have just not trained. And trust me, I was in the training camp, he was training hard.”
Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury’s huge heavyweight rematch will be live on Saturday December 21 on Sky Sports Box Office. Book Usyk v Fury 2 now!
