24 October 2023 , 08:47
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Tyson Fury claims he had ballooned to 350lb when he signed to fight former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.
The bout was announced in July, with a launch press conference following just over a month later. And fans were concerned by the boxer's physique when he removed his top at their pre-fight event in London for a face-off, with many noting that his physique seemed flabbier than usual.
Fury is not known for maintaining a typically athletic body, and did goad Ngannou with insistence that he has the peak male body despite the aesthetics. But he has admitted he needed to make a big cut in order to get down in weight for Saturday's fight.
"I've had 11 months out of the ring inactive again," Fury told Boxing Social when asked why he had doubled the length of his training camp. "I fought Derek Chisora early December, the third in 2022 and now we're in the end of October so it's been a long time and I needed a good long camp.
"I was weighing about 350lb to start and I needed time to get it off and time to get sharp again, get my timing back which is not easy after a year out of the ring, as we all know, especially not at 35-years-old. So I've gave a good training camp, a good 12 weeks living out at my other place so I've not been around the kids and my wife and all that. I've given myself a tough preparation.
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"Sugar [coach SugarHill Steward] has been over now eight weeks by the time the fight comes around. I've been in camp with George [Lockhart, nutritionist] for about 12 weeks, sparring Joseph Parker, Martin Bakole, Solomon Dacres and Nick Campbell - I've had some excellent sparring with all the boys, big shout out everybody, every single one of you. I'm feeling sharp, I did my final eight rounds the other day with Joe and Solomon on Saturday and I can't say any better than that really."
Fury's career-highest fight weight was a whopping 277lb for his trilogy with Deontay Wilder in October of 2021. For that fight he infamously suffered a torrid camp in which he spent lots of time at the hospital during a complicated few days around the birth of his daughter Athena.
He also ballooned in weight during his time away from the sport following his 2015 win over Wladimir Klitschko, claiming to have hit highs of almost 400lb. At that time he battled drug issues and mental health struggles, but returned to win heavyweight gold again three years later.