EDDIE HEARN has addressed rumours of Tyson Fury getting dropped in sparring for his historic clash with Oleksandr Usyk.
The Gypsy King is just over two weeks away from fighting the former undisputed cruiserweight king for all the heavyweight marbles in Saudi Arabia.
Fury, 35, enlisted the services of Alexis Barriere, Kevin Lerena, Moses Itauma and former IBF cruiserweight king Jai Opetaia to prepare him for his crack at undisputed glory.
Opetaia, however, left the camp to prepare for his rematch with Mairis Briedis, a departure which coincided with claims he put Fury on his backside during one of their spars.
But Hearn has dismissed the rumours – which Opetaia’s team denied – as complete “rubbish”.
During an appearance on talkSPORT, the Aussie’s promoter said: “Jai Opetaia is with Matchroom, he’s a tremendous fighter. As far as I can see, it’s absolute rubbish.
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“Jai Opetaia flew in, he did five rounds with Tyson Fury. I mean, he will set about him as he always does, but as I understand it nobody got hurt or dropped in the spar.
“Then after that Jai went back because it’s all southpaws in [Fury’s] training camp [to prepare for Usyk], and he’s fighting Mairis Briedis who’s an orthodox fighter.
“So I think it’s absolute rubbish, sparring stories are sparring stories.”
In stark contrast to the rumours of Fury’s camp being in disarray, Hearn claims to have heard that the WBC heavyweight champion’s preparations are going swimmingly.
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He continued: “As I understand it, Fury’s having a great camp and I think he’s taking it very seriously.
“I expect a much better Tyson Fury in this fight against Usyk. Usyk looks razor-focused and sharp. It’s a 50/50 fight.
“I think the Opetaia rumours are just rumours, complete rubbish.”
Hearn, like many in the boxing world, was less than impressed by Fury’s display in his crossover clash with former UFC heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou last October.
But he expects the burly Brit to be too much for slick southpaw Usyk to overcome in their Riyad rumble.
He told Mo Boxing Problems: “I think Tyson Fury wins the fight. I think it’s a very tricky fight.
“I don’t think it’ll be the greatest fight you’ve ever watched, but I think it will be fascinating.
“But I think he will just be too good, he’ll mess around with Usyk and he’ll find a way.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
