Of all the fight week festivities and hype, one single statistic seems to be sticking out when attempting to come up with a prediction for Deontay Wilder vs Tyson Fury II.
The remarkable fact which nags at me is Fury parting company with five prominent members of his team since fight one.
Back in December 2018, Fury ‘rose from the dead’ when seemingly out for the count in Los Angeles. At the time, Ben Davison led a three-strong corner team consisting of legendary figures in Freddie Roach and Ricky Hatton.
In the aftermath, both Roach and Hatton moved on as Fury made his assault on the Las Vegas strip in 2019.
Just months prior to his rematch battle, and Fury fired his entire team, possibly on the advice of father John.
Fury Sr. was highly critical of Davison on the night as a pundit for BT Sport.
“I’ve never seen him so bad,” Fury told BT Sport host Paul Dempsey. “He looked weight drained. He looked like he left it all in the gym, to be honest with you. From the second round on there was no snap. There was no real movement.
“He’s a lucky man to get the win, to be honest. Very lucky indeed. I don’t know how he’s got from the third to the twelfth round (with that cut).
“I just think he’s a very lucky chap to come out the winner. But that’s not Tyson in there. Whatever’s gone wrong in that camp, and it has gone terribly wrong, someone is to blame. He didn’t look like he had the strength from the word off.
???? Mikey Williams
“His timing was off, his distance was terrible. He never threw a meaningful shot, really. The only ones he landed were labored shots, hoping to get him out of there.
“That’s my son, but that’s the worst I’ve seen him.
“It’s a circus. If I had my way, the lot would be gone (Ben Davison and co.). The lot would be gone. Looking at that there, if he keeps hold of that team, they are going to cost him his career.
“The team being Ben Davison, whoever he’s got around him now. He (Ben) needs to look in the mirror and say, ‘I’m not good enough’ and it’s proved it tonight.
“The cutman was the only worthwhile man in that team. Credit to him because how can you fix that? – They (the cutman) saved his life (career-wise).
“It would have been gone (if he was away from home with that cut).”
GONE
Despite praising cutman Jorge Capetillo, Fury replaced the Mexican with ‘Stitch’ Duran for the Wilder return. Bringing the total given their marching orders to five (including corner third for Wallin).
On fight night this Saturday, SugarHill Steward will be head coach, alongside Fury’s cousin Andy Lee and Duran.
Changing so much in a short space of time, just fourteen months from fight one. Plus, drafting in a new team just weeks before training for this bout, you have to wonder if it could have a detrimental effect on Fury’s chances.
We will see.