As the two talented and undefeated heavyweights near a world title bout on May 6 in Auckland, Barry opened up to WBN regarding part of the game plan, whilst admitting Fury’s style could be a hard one to master next month.
“Hughie doesn’t bring the best style for Joe or for me,” Barry exclusively told World Boxing News.
“Joe and I have been together for just over four years now and many times over that period, especially the first couple of years, we tried to make the fight with Fury so it’s also a fight we haven’t been dodging.
“Hughie is a guy I’ve been watching for a very long time. He’s very skilled and well trained. The things he does, he does very well. He’s a fighter that likes to settle into a comfortable rhythm and obviously my plan for Joe is to make Fury as uncomfortable as we possibly can.
“One thing I can tell you is that Hughie Fury will be under far greater pressure than anything he’s ever seen before, including working with his cousin Tyson. That pressure and intensity level Joe will be bringing in this fight is very hard to train for in high-level competition.
“Joe has done that himself in fights against Andy Ruiz and Carlos Takam, but this is a totally new experience for Hughie.”
Asked whether Fury being out for a year with a fatigue-causing skin condition could make a difference in the fight, Barry replied: “He has been out for a while but his cousin Tyson was off for a long time before he fought Klitschko and only fought spasmodically for three years before that, so I don’t put a lot into that.
“You look back to 2015 and Hughie fought four times and twice in 2016. Joe has fought five times a year in the last three years. We’ve been on a very busy schedule, so to be completely honest – when the date was pushed back from April 1 to May 6, it helped us a lot as Joe has enjoyed that little bit of extra time. He’s been able to tune his body up as we’ve been on a terror of a schedule in the last three years.
“It’s enabled Joe to take a little bit of time to take a deep breath, regroup and he’s come back fresh. Everything I’m seeing I’m very happy with. We’ve had a very happy and positive training camp,” he added.
Someone’s perfect record will end when the pair trade blows at the Vector Arena, C.V’s which represent 42 wins and 28 stoppages since the pair turned pro in 2012 (Parker) and 2013 (Fury) respectively.
Phil Jay is Editor of World Boxing News. Follow on Twitter @PhilDJay
