'Only one voice' – Ricky Hatton says John Fury should change his role in Tyson Fury's camp ahead of Oleksandr Usyk rematch

02/09/2024 10:02

Ricky Hatton wants to see John Fury take a backseat ahead of Tyson Fury’s rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.

Usyk defeated Fury via split decision in May to become the first four-belt undisputed heavyweight world champion.

Fury’s team came under a lot of criticism following the fight.

Traditionally, only one person speaks in a fighter’s corner between rounds, but Fury’s father John, SugarHill Steward, and Andy Lee were all giving him advice – some of which was contradictory.

Hatton insists Fury Sr should take a step back from the corner ahead of his son’s rematch with Usyk on December 21 and allow head coach Steward to bark his orders uninterrupted.

“I think he should do that,” Hatton told Action Network.

“I believe I speak for most coaches who would say, you can have an assistant coach or second in command in the corner and while the three-minute rounds are on, you can discuss with your coaching partner about what might happen.

“But when the one-minute interval happens, there's got to be only one voice. If that advice is coming from (all directions), you're like 'Where do I go'?

“I think it's fantastic to have two people in the corner (John Fury, Andy Lee or SugarHill) it's great because you can pick their brains.

“Two heads are better than one and three is better than two but in the one-minute interval, you need to have one speaker and any coach that is worth their while would agree with me on that one.”

John may take a less hands-on approach in the second fight but according to Fury’s manager, Spencer Brown, no changes will be made to his client’s corner team.

“There’ll be changes, not in management or his team, there’ll be some other stuff that he’ll be looking at training-wise,” Brown told Sky Sports.

“With the closeness of the fight last time, it could have gone either way.

“Some people will say Usyk was three rounds in front, some people won’t, it’s your opinion on boxing – that’s why we love it.

“But Tyson Fury will be back. He’ll be firing and we’ll see a new, better, improved Tyson Fury.

“At his age, I don’t know how much you can improve but there was very, very little in the fight between them, so let’s back our British guy and I’m sure he will win and then we’re going to talk about the next stage.”

The next stage Brown speaks about is expected to be a long-awaited domestic dust-up with Anthony Joshua.

Providing Fury beats Usyk and Joshua topples IBF champion Daniel Dubois on September 21, Saudi boxing chief HE Turki Alalshikh has promised they will fight each other next.

The chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority was initially aiming for the fight to land in March 2025, although that was before the Fury vs Usyk rematch was pushed back to December.