Fury split with Ben Davison, his long-time trainer and man behind his transformation, two months ago
Tyson Fury allayed circling rumours about disharmony in his Sin City camp between his two new trainers, insisting that it had been “love at first sight” when SugarHill Steward and Andy Lee took up the coaching duties.
The working relationship came about after Fury’s split two months ago from Ben Davison, the trainer who guided him in his last five fights, including the first heavyweight championship bout with Deontay Wilder in December 2018.
“Having SugarHill Steward in the corner is a fantastic asset. Before I came over here to start this training camp, I was very unsure how this would go because obviously me and my long-term trainer were not training together anymore,” explained Fury.
“SugarHill was a new trainer, someone I hadn’t worked with for 10 years, so it was all up in the air. Andy [Lee] was coming in too, so it was all unknown to me.”
Steward is the nephew of the late, great Manny Steward, of the famed Kronk Gym in Detroit; Irishman Lee is the former world middleweight champion, and is a blood relation of Fury.
“I wasn’t sure how it would all pan out, but I can tell you now, it’s the best decision I ever made and I’m glad I made it when I did because we’re going to see something different on Saturday night,” Fury said before adding of Lee: “Andy’s a relation of mine. He’s very experienced and he knows the game inside out. He’s related on my grandmother’s sister’s side.”
Any concerns about a lack of chemistry were dispelled with alacrity, explained the fighter, holding court with the British media at the Top Rank offices of his US promoter Bob Arum. “We were a team straight away. It’s just how comfortable we are and how we gelled. I believe in love at first sight. When I first met my wife when we were kids, I knew I was going to marry her straight away.
“So whoever says you can’t have chemistry in a short time is full of s— When love hits you, it hits you like a ton of bricks and you can’t stop it. Chemistry can be made in seconds and you automatically know if something is going to work or it’s not.
“If you need a long time to work out if that person’s for you or, then that person probably isn’t for you.”
With four days to go and the Grand Arrivals ceremony due to take place own Tuesday in the cavernous reception of the MGM Resort, Fury looked in great shape, shaven and weighing, he revealed, 18st 11lbs.
“Fight week is fight week and training camp will always be training camp. I could say I’ve trained harder for this camp than I did for the last one, I’ve run further and all that. It’s unimportant because when you get in that ring on the night, all that matters is winning.”
The undefeated 31-year-old added: “I feel fit, I feel strong and everything is going really well and I can’t wait for Saturday night. But as for comparing myself with before, I can’t remember last week let alone two years ago.”