7 hours Ago By Ben Davies
John Fury didn't attend Tyson Fury's rematch defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in Riyadh. Fury was beaten in a tough and devastating defeat by Usyk in their initial undisputed title clash in May. His dad formed part of his corner alongside trainers Andy Lee and SugarHill Steward, where he screamed words of advice at his son during the bout.
Unfortunately, it didn't help him overturn the fine margins of defeat, and there was widespread criticism over his approach to being so close to his son's camp. Fast-forward six months and Fury Sr was not seen publicly at any of the media events for the heavyweight sequel, including the press conference and open workouts. He had caused havoc in the build-up to their illustrious first meeting having headbutted a member of Usyk's team , so his presence was noticeable this time around.
And as the Middle East sequel unfolded in the Saudi capital, the famous father was nowhere to be seen. Fury Sr was not in the corner, having been taken away from it in order to allow Steward to be the main focus. And he wasn't seen publicly ringside, with other members of Fury's family present including brother Tommy and wife Paris.
They witnessed Tyson fall to a second defeat to the magnificent Ukrainian, who outboxed him once more for a unanimous decision triumph. Many had suggested Fury Sr was a distracting presence in the heavyweight's corner in his last encounter. He narrowly came up short by split decision, and he felt he had done enough to win, acting on the advice of his corner.
But his noticeable absence was one that was clearly pre-meditated, given Fury had taken time away from his family. The British heavyweight spent months in a training camp in Malta and cut off all communication with his household including his wife Paris. When asked about the conditions including his relationship with his father, Fury had responded: "Like I say, I’ve not spoken to anybody.
"Shane’s [Brother] been with me the whole camp. We’ve had 60 days together, each other’s company, killing each other. "He’s called me more useless things than ever before.
Hughie come over two weeks ago. And that’s it. "I’ve not spoken to anybody.
When I say I’ve not spoke to nobody, I really haven’t spoken to anybody. “Just been focused on the fight and doing my job, you know, being in camp. "I was in Malta, it was decent weather, dry, we had good facilities and stuff and literally, I went to the gym in the morning, come back, had my food, went to the gym in the evening, come back and had my food.
"Then I’d watch TV, went to bed, got to bed early, woke up early and the only time we left was to go to the gym or we went to the church on a Sunday. That was it.” Get the latest fight news, reaction and the best opinion from talkSPORT pundits in our Boxing WhatsApp channel.
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