Babic on sparring Fury: "I took maybe 10 clean uppercuts in the head"
Alen Babic was speaking to Boxing Betting about sparring WBC World heavyweight champion Tyson Fury
'The Gypsy King' Tyson Fury enlisted Croatia’s Alen Babic to prepare for Derek Chisora’s pressure fighting style, before the pair meet for a third time at Tottenham Hotspurs stadium on December 3.
The undefeated all-action WBC silver champion, known as 'The Savage', lifts the lid on Fury’s Morecambe training camp, and he wants his manager Dillian Whyte to fight Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua next year.
What’s it like to share the ring with Tyson Fury?
“It’s beautiful, I love it. I love boxing, I live boxing. So he was punching me with those uppercuts. I took maybe 10 clean uppercuts in the head. He stopped because he thinks I'm hurt. [I said] ‘I’m not Fury, I love this, let’s go’. He said ‘Savage, you’re mental’. I love it’.
“He’s always on you like he’s in the air floating all the time. He does not really put himself on you, he’s just there. His huge frame. His huge body. He should not be able to do this but he’s there. And you punch him in the liver and the stomach full force and he does not even feel it. It’s mental. He does not feel the punches. And then he puts his arms behind his back and allows me to punch him. Nobody did that in my life. I didn’t want to – I know he could take it because he’s mental – but I did not want to punch him cleanly because I don’t do that. It would be degrading for me. Then I started doing it [copying Fury’s taunts] because I was ashamed. [I said] ‘Screw you, punch me.”
How do you rate his power?
“He does not really have the power punch. I don’t rate him as a power puncher. I did not really feel it if i’m being honest. But I counted his punches in one round, he did 86 punches. That’s crazy. You don’t even know how or where the punches are coming from. With the small gloves I see Fury as a very dangerous individual, but with the sparring gloves on and headgear I did not really rate him as dangerous as he is in a fight probably. Because he does hit you clean from the corners you don’t see – it’s just ‘boom’. He’s like a lightweight. Very fast. Very awkward.
How Dangerous is Derek Chisora?
“Chisora is dangerous for any human alive. I’m a big fan of Chisora and a big fan of Fury. These are two guys that I love. Chisora has those wide-looping hands, wide-looping crosses. Chisora’s a very dangerous guy and if he catches him clean he’s going to put him down. But Fury will rise. He may put him down, I don’t count that out, but Fury will rise again. Fury will keep rising like he did with Deontay Wilder.”
Prediction?
“I think Fury is going to win it. There’s no stopping Tyson Fury. Fury is calling out Joe Joyce – how crazy is that? In my humble opinion Joe Joyce is the dark horse in the heavyweight division and the best heavyweight on the planet right now. I’ve sparred with Joyce and rate him very highly. And this Gypsy King is calling Joe Joyce out – he’s the only one. Nobody calls out Joe Joyce. That mentality of Fury is unbeatable.”
How was it having Jermaine Franklin in camp?
“I did not like him, I did not like his team – they were highly unprofessional. And the sparring was also very unprofessional. Fury was killing Jermaine Franklin. Fury was decapitating him every time. Fury was also giving him a beating. Solomon Dacres was also in camp and was giving him beatings. You can’t get ready for a fight by getting a beating everyday for ten rounds.”
“I murdered him. It was an annihilation. It was savage.
“I went in and demolished him. Tyson watched it so he can confirm it. He was very poor at sparring. He was not good. I did not tell Dillian because you do not talk about that stuff. I am a professional sparring partner. I said to Dillian something happened and Franklin left the camp the day after. I think that speaks for it itself. He left the camp the day after.”
The fight was close – should there be a rematch?
“Who wants to see Franklin again? It was boring. I didn't like the fight. He did not do nothing and he's calling for a rematch. For me he lost by maybe two or three rounds. He lost the fight. If you're challenging a UK guy in the UK you've got to give your all. Not just box and do nothing. No one wants to see the rematch. Dillian wants to fight AJ.”
What’s next for Whyte?
“I think it's perfect for that fight because AJ is not where he wants to be and I think even Dillian is not where he needs to be. So they perfectly align on a little bit of a downward spiral. They align perfectly. I think the best fights are like that; Muhammad Ali v Joe Frazier 3, Gatti-Ward 3.
“Anthony Joshua is one of the few guys in the world that can bring out the true Dillian Whyte; the animal, the wolf. What we all love. It's kind of been lost in the last few fights but it's there. He's still engaged in training everyday, he just needs the real opponent. I always fancied Dillian and Wilder. Wilder's dangerous and he'd be on his A-game. This was his D-game I think. I have some sense that Dillan will destroy Wilder. I have a hunch. Wilder is an incredible power puncher. Maybe the best that ever was. But he cannot take a punch – Fury is not a knockout artist but he put Wilder down ten times in three fights, so I feel if Dillian catches Wilder it's night night.”
