Johnny Nelson: ‘Tyson Fury tried to take my head off in sparring’

By Boxing News - 04/25/2020 - Comments

By Charles Brun: Former WBO cruiserweight champion Johnny Nelson recalls sparring a very young Tyson Fury at the end at the tail-end of his professional career, and he’s still stunned at how talented he was even back then.

Nelson says Fury showed “no respect” to him and couldn’t lay a glove on him during the two to three rounds that they sparred.

Although Nelson doesn’t say what year the sparring took place, given that he retired in 2005, it would make Fury 16-years-old at the time. Nelson refers to Fury as being a grown man when he sparred him, but if he were 15 or 16 at the time, he would hardly fit the description of a grown man.

It’s impressive that Fury was able to give Nelson significant problems during the sparring, considering how young he was at the time. There was a size difference between the 6’3″ Nelson and 6’9″ Fury, but you would still expect a world champion to get the better of a 15 to 16-year-old teenager.

Nelson (45-12-2, 29 KOs) held the WBO cruiserweight title from 1999 to 2005, when he retired as the champ.

Fury impossible to hit by Nelson

“Two or three. Tyson was really young, and he was a big man,” said Nelson to IFL TV in talking about his sparring with Fury years ago. “I was in the backend of my career ticking over, and Brendan said, ‘Get in the ring with him.’ So I’m like, ‘Really?’ I got in with Tyson.

“Yeah, I knew who he was. His dad was one of my neighbors. I knew who he was. His dad came in with him, and Brandan is in his usual corner in the ring. And his dad [John Fury] stood on the outside of the ring, which is a bit odd because usually people will sit or stand on the floor?

“His dad got on the side of the ring. Tyson was throwing shots and missing, and I was slipping. He was fast. The thing is, I was trying to hit him. It was like we were both trying to catch flies. I thought, ‘For a big guy, you’re bloody fast and awkward to hit.’ I couldn’t touch him. I thought, ‘You’re making mistakes,'” said Nelson on sparring Fury.

It would have been interesting to watch the sparring between Nelson and Fury. Nelson wasn’t the best cruiserweight champion, but he was talented enough to hold onto his WBO strap for six years. Even though some boxing sees the WBO belt as the least prestigious of the four world titles, it’s not easy to hold onto a title for six years.

Fury turned professional in 2008 at age 19-years-old, and in some respects, he was a better fighter then than he is now. He was faster and quicker on his feet back then. Fury weighed 261 pounds for his first pro bout against Bela Gyongyosi in December 2008, and he stopped him in the first round.

Nelson: Fury showed me NO respect

“Usually, in boxing, when you get a young guy in with an old champion, there’s a little bit of invisible respect you have for the champion or the ex-champion that’s there,” continued Nelson on sparring the young Fury. “He had none at all. He was trying to blast me out, but he couldn’t hit me. So he was missing.

“His dad was, ‘Get him!’ Tyson stopped and said, ‘Why don’t you come in and get him.’ So those two are arguing at ringside. ‘You get him.’ ‘No, you get him. It’s not that easy.’

“I just looked at Brendan, and he smirked and chuckled. ‘Carry on.’ Even then, I thought, ‘This kid has got balls, or he’s just numb to any kind of nerves,’ because the man showed no respect. He was trying to take my head off,” said Nelson about Fury.

It’s not unexpected that Fury would show no respect during a sparring session with a world champion. He had to have been a little nervous about the shots that Nelson was throwing back at him.

After all, Nelson had beaten of good fighters during his career. With Fury only 15 to 16, it had to have been nerve-wracking to be sparring a champion in his last 30s. Nelson would have been 38 if he sparred Fury in 2005.

Johnny Nelson rates himself above Oleksandr Usyk

“I actually enjoyed boxing towards the end of my career because then the penny dropped,” said Nelson. “Once I became a World champion, that’s when I really believed I was the best in the world. You’ve got to be arrogant enough to say that.

“We did a poll on Sky Sports last week, and it was on the cruiserweight. It named all the top cruiserweight in the world. We had to pick the top three. I put myself number two, behind Evander Holyfield and ahead of Oleksandr Usyk.

“I actually believed that on my day, I would definitely be number two. So the backlash that came through. These things are my opinion. It’s how you look at things,” said Nelson.

It’s a bit of a stretch on Nelson’s part to rate himself above Oleksander Usyk at cruiserweight, but it’s possible that he could have beaten him. Usyk never fought anyone that you can call a great fighter at cruiserweight during his five years in the division. His best wins came against Murat Gassiev, Mairis Briedis, Tony Bellew, and Michael Hunter. Those are good fighters, but not super great.

Nelson’s best wins as a pro came against these fighters:

  • Vincenzo Cantatore
  • Alexander Petkovic
  • Carl Thompson
  • George Arias
  • Dennis Andries
  • Jimmy Thunder

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