Tommy Fury has left no stone unturned as he prepares for the biggest fight of his career against Jake Paul in Saudi Arabia on Sunday night.
While Paul opted to shift his camp from Puerto Rico where he usually trains to Dubai in an effort to acclimatise to the Middle East ahead of his first fight in the region, Fury opted to stay at home and train at Elite Boxing in Bolton. The Brit has worked under his dad John and Alex Matvienko as he prepares multiple times a day for the massive bout.
Team Fury arrived in Saudi Arabia on February 16 after a gruelling camp that has been going on since before the bout was hastily announced back in January. They had been sparring with a number of top prospects at cruiserweight, light-heavyweight and super-middleweight in the hopes of replicating Paul's powerful style.
"Talking about what happened inside the boxing gym, the stuff that's happened there, I've never had as much sparring, quality sparring rounds after rounds, guys jumping in and out," Fury told Mirror Fighting. "Everything's gone to the letter, I'm in the best physical condition I ever could have been. The road work, strength and conditioning, the sparring, whatever you name it."
He brought in George Lockhart, the famed nutritionist and former fighter who takes care of some of the sport's biggest players, to help to bring his camp to a new level after reportedly securing a £2.5million payday for the bout. "He cooks for Conor McGregor and Tyson," Fury boasted. " He's the best in the world at what he does. I've cut no corners, taken everything very seriously and everything's done now."
He's reportedly left some training partners with brutal injuries in sparring, proving his dangerousness and power to some who felt that he hasn't shown it in his career thus far. Ex-world champion Andy Lee hasn't been in Bolton for this camp, but saw him train as part of preparations for his brother Tyson and pal Joseph Parker's big fights, with the Irishman saying he's "naturally heavy-handed".
"All those ones that think Tommy can't fight are going to be in with a shock," his dad and head coach John said. "You can ask his sparring partners. We've had injuries, concussions, we've had everything in the lead up to Jake Paul and not off Tommy - he's never had a black eye.
"He's done a hundred rounds of sparring and not even a glove graze. Tommy's good but he's never had the chance to showcase his stuff because he's not been out enough. He's had eight fights in five years, come on. It's a joke, because they didn't want to pay him what he's worth."
And while he didn't see any of the broken bones, one sparring partner did feel Fury's power first hand and believes that he will get Paul out within four rounds. Cathal Crowley, a 1-0 Irish prospect who turned over last November and will make a big splash on April 8 as part of the Dylan Moran vs Declan Geraghty undercard in Waterford, was drafted in for work with the Love Island star.
They sparred a total of seven rounds together, with Crowley jumping in and out as the Brit was tested by multiple opponents, on one occasion over six rounds and the other over eight. He witnessed as Fury maintained his pace over the eight rounds; a common concern from analysts, and even saw a few of the sparring partners brought in suffer gnarly cuts.
"He looked good over the eight rounds," Crowley insisted. "He was still carrying power, he didn't look fatigued in the later rounds of the sparring... I saw some cuts and stuff while I was there, so he definitely was looking good and seeing how he was looking after his nutrition and everything will benefit me in future for my own fights.
"I had trained in that gym last year for a few weeks so the trainer just got on to me and I went over. He has fast hands and carries power in both and I think he's going to cause Jake a lot of trouble, I've been watching [Jake] from afar, I don't know how I feel about him.
"I suppose he brings eyeballs to the sport which is the main thing but if he gets ranked, I don't know. He's nowhere near a top 15 fighter and at cruiserweight? He's not even near the size of any cruiserweight. I'd say he's the exact same size as me [a light-heavyweight in the process of moving down to super-middle] and cruiserweights are like heavyweights these days.
"Jake's got an element of confidence because he's improving a lot since he just started in the sport, but I still don't think he has much of a chance against Tommy. Tommy should get the job done and knock him out... Tommy was a lot better [than I'd seen on TV] but the thing is that he hasn't fought in a while.
"His last fight was an exhibition which wasn't a real fight, so I think the reason people are thinking it's close is that we've seen a lot of Jake Paul in the limelight. We haven't seen Tommy in a good few months or even a year in the ring competitively."
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And there's been upheaval in Fury's life outside of the gym as well. In the middle of camp, on the eve of their fight announcement, long-time girlfriend Molly Mae Hague gave birth to their first child; Bambi. The old boxing cliche of having 'the best camp of my life' in fact rings true for Fury, who will never forget the moments he spent at home as well as in the gym during this few months.
"This was the best camp ever because Molly gave birth to our beautiful baby daughter," Fury explained. "It's a dream come true... At the end of the day this is a beautiful thing and everything that I do in my life now will be for her.
"I'm not going to spoil her or buy her unnecessary things or anything like that but I want to make sure that she has a great life and never has to struggle for anything. Everything's for her, now. It just makes me a more dangerous fighter in every single aspect. Now it's not just me I'm fighting for, I'm fighting for her. Everything in my game has been raised."
There is an air of confidence around Team Fury, emanating from nobody more-so than the man himself. "When you've left no stone unturned you're very confident in what you do," he explained. "And that's exactly what I am. Everyone will see on February 26."
