John Fury has blasted trainer Sugar Hill Steward over his son Tyson’s agonising first loss to Oleksandr Usyk last year.
Fury and Usyk met in Riyadh in May in what turned out to be an epic showdown for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world.
Tyson looked brilliant for seven rounds as he boxed superbly, gradually breaking down the brilliant Ukrainian. Notably with an uppercut that just could not miss.
The fight though turned in Rounds 8 and 9 with a furious Usyk assault which completely changed the complexion of the bout. Fury appeared out on his feet in the ninth before somehow making it to the bell. He would then finish strong only to lose a wafer-thin decision.
His dad John has praised his son’s spirit and fighting heart to come back from the deepest of waters in Round 9, but he had no praise for Kronk Gym disciple Sugar Hill.
John Fury on Usyk loss
He told Seconds Out: “If it wasn’t for me in his corner, he’d have been knocked out, simple as that. He was listening to the wrong instructions and he got caught, going to the left of a southpaw. I’m a southpaw, you don’t go to the left on me, because I’ll catch you.
“He was listening to the ill advice. Too many people in the corner. I’m his father, he not only stayed in the fight, he shared the 10th because his legs was gone in the 10th. He was a miracle man to get out of the 9th round, but it was me who kept him in there. If it had been left to them, he’d have been knocked out.
“Because it was me what said ‘right, you’ve got to get behind your jab and you’ve got got box, slip and slide, move around, use your brains and just get your legs back’. And he did that, and he won the 11th and the 12th. So like I say, if it had been down to me, he’d have never been caught in the first place.
“He was just listening to people he believed in, what hasn’t got any fighting experience. At the end of the day, if he was that good of a trainer, Sugar Hill, his uncle Emanuel would have left him the top job wouldn’t he?”
What is next for Tyson Fury?
After that May loss Fury rematched Usyk in December, and again lost a close fight on the scorecards, before announcing his retirement from the sport in January 2025.
Many experts believe he will come back to fight again, and last week he and Sugar Hill released an 11-second video which dropped the biggest hint yet that it will happen.
If Fury does come back that long-awaited blockbuster vs Anthony Joshua will surely be his choice of fight, but he will have to wait. Joshua is about to undergo surgery on an injury and will be out of the gym for 6-8 weeks. That likely puts a Fury vs Joshua fight back to 2026.
