Spencer Brown: “I think he was a little bit shocked at how good Tyson really was”
The WBC and lineal heavyweight champion’s manager, Spencer Brown, addresses rumours that Jai Opetaia (24-0, 19 KOs) dropped Tyson Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) in sparring.
Fury is now deep into his training camp for a showdown with Oleksandr Usyk on May 18, but the initial date, scheduled for February 17, was scuppered after he sustained a cut in sparring.
This caused plenty of speculation around the 35-year-old’s preparation, with some people suggesting that Opetaia had been causing him problems in sparring.
However, at Wednesday’s “Ring of Fire” press conference in Morecombe, Brown revealed what really went down behind closed doors.
Speaking with TNT Sports, Spencer enthused, “If you’d have seen him spar, it was unbelievable. And I’ll put a little record straight, here.
“Jai Opetaia flew in – lovely kid, great team, great fighter – but all this rubbish about him putting Tyson away and all that, you’ve probably heard it yourself. It’s a load of rubbish.
“I think he was a little bit shocked at how good Tyson really was. And, you know, he’s a cruiserweight – not taking nothing away from him because he’s a great fighter and lovely kid.”
Friend and sparring partner Joseph Parker also confirmed this, when he spoke out about the rumours, “I think all of these rumours are just stories from people who think they know what happened, but no one knows. I know that Tyson never got dropped.”
It is in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where Fury and Usyk will clash for the undisputed championship – the first time all four belts, in this heavyweight era, have all been put on the line.
As expected, the Brit oozed confidence when he appeared in front of the world’s media earlier this week, with the cameras and microphones only enhancing his assuredness.
He made a point of highlighting the size difference between him and Usyk, saying that any cruiserweight who has moved up has always fallen short against a bigger heavyweight.
This was true, Fury mentioned, for Evander Holyfield who, while famously causing an upset against Mike Tyson, was unable to have the same success against Riddick Bowe and Lennox Lewis.