Former Manchester City defender plays punching bag for Gypsy King
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Former WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has found himself an unusual sparring partner before preparing for a rematch against WBA/WBO/WBC title holder Oleksandr Usyk . He is former Manchester City defender Micah Richards. Moreover, the former footballer acts as a punching bag.
This happened as part of the TV show “A League of Their Own”, the 19th season of which is released today. It is reported that the filming took place before Fury left for a training camp in Malta.
“I thought he was going to hit me harder, to be honest. He hit me a little softer,” Richards said. “It was really nice to meet Tyson outside of a boxing night. It was interesting to see him in that environment: Fury is so humble and sweet, like a big friendly giant. Some people come to this show and you'd think they'd be really funny or really angry.
Fury has never been against appearing on talk shows, and has appeared on Jonathan Ross's show in the past. But “training” with Richards didn't help the Gypsy King. “I thought the Fury-Usyk rematch would be a draw at the very least. Considering everything he's been through, it was inspiring to fight at that level,” Richards says.
Usyk won the WBC championship belt in May 2024, defeating titleholder Tyson Fury by split decision. Alexander became the absolute world champion, having collected all the main belts in the heavyweight division in his collection.
Read also: Usyk and Fury rematch could become record-breaking fight of 2024 in terms of number of paid broadcasts sold
Usyk later defended his WBO/WBA/IBO/WBC titles in a second fight with Fury in December. The fight also lasted 12 rounds, with all three judges giving the victory to the Ukrainian.
Read also: The Great One! Usyk won eight fights against world champions or boxers who were in the top 10 of The Ring ratings at the time
According to Usyk's manager Egis Klimas, the Ukrainian champion may hold his next fight in July-August 2025. Oleksandr accepted the challenge of IBF belt holder Daniel Dubois. The Ukrainian is awaiting the results of Dubois' fight against New Zealander Joseph Parker before officially agreeing on his next opponent.