TYSON FURY has been praised for getting up TWICE against Deontay Wilder, by a sparring partner who opened up on just how hard he hits.
American Jim Torney spent two weeks in Wilder’s Alabama training camp helping in preparation for the trilogy bout.
Torney perfectly matches up with the Gypsy King’s 6ft 9in and 19 stone frame, so was an ideal sparring partner.
But it came at the cost of feeling the sheer force of Wilder’s punches, who has 41 knockouts in 42 wins, with a 91 per cent stoppage ratio.
Torney, 34, told SunSport: “His power is the real deal! You don’t know until you get in there.
“I was – in a strange way – kind of excited as you really want to have that kind of notch on your belt, to say you’ve been in there with Deontay Wilder.
“His power is second to none, I’ve never been hit like that before. His power is the real deal, but I was surprised by some other things too.”
Wilder has a reach of 83 inches, and uses every bit of it to launch devastating attacks.
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Torney said: “I was really surprised by his length. As lot of the guys I spar with, even the elite guys haven’t been as long.
“So he’s really long, he uses it really well, he’s got a wide stance, he keeps his lead jab hand out there, he’s feinting.
“I found his length surprising and his pace too, he’s a warrior, he keeps the pace on. He jabs real well, and again, his power speaks for itself.”
Wilder’s reach and speed is what helps produce the brutal knockouts, having already been gifted with fearsome punch power.
Torney explained: “I’ve been in there with some other hard-hitters.
“But Wilder’s was very fast too, he covers that distance and he releases his right hand really fast.
“There was a couple of times I got hit with it and I just didn’t see it coming. There’s that initial surprise and then the power that comes with it.”
His power is second to none, I’ve never been hit like that before. His power is the real deal.
Deontay Wilder’s sparring partner Jim Torney
Wilder, 35, twice floored Fury, 33, in their 2018 original but was stunned when neither was enough to close the show as it ended a draw.
In the rematch last year he was connivingly beaten but again had his British rival down twice in their recently thrilling trilogy decider.
And Fury got up both times in round four, later winning in the 11th after he scored a total of three knockdowns.
Torney said: “It’s surprising, but the fact he was able to do it in the first fight didn’t make it a complete shock that he was able to get up.
“But, say for instance the first knockdown it was kind of a delayed reaction by Fury, that I was kind of laughing.
“Because having been hit by Wilder, it’s almost like you could tell Fury knew he had been rocked and he was trying to stay up but his body wouldn’t allow him to.
“That to me, I was kinda chuckling to myself because when you’ve been hit by Wilder it’s not surprising to see that.
“It’s such a fast, powerful punch, and it kind of set in like two seconds later when Fury went down.
“But you know what Fury’s made of, he’s proved himself in the past and you know, like he said, if he can get up, he’s going to get up.
“So unless you can knock him the f*** out like he says, he’s going to keep getting up.
“But when you can do it against Wilder, it’s even more impressive.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
