By Jeff Aronow: Tyson Fury has given cut-man Jorge Capetillo some money to pay him back for helping him survive his fight against Otto Wallin in 2019. Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) suffered a horrendous cut over his right eye early in the Wallin fight last September, and Capetillo did an excellent job of stopping the bleeding.
Capetillo lost his job with Fury after Wallin fight
Surprisingly, Fury REPLACED Capetillo after the Wallin fight in having Jacob ‘Stitch’ Duran take over as his new cut-man. You would think that Fury would have kept Capetillo on as his trainer out of gratitude for saving his backside in the Wallin fight, but that wasn’t the case. Duran replaced Capetillo at the same time that trainer Ben Davison was dumped.
Fury was allowed to fight with the massive cut, which later required 47 stitches. Some boxing fans believe Fury was shown preferential treatment in being allowed to compete with a cut that would have customarily forced a stoppage. The cut was about as bad as the one Vitali Klitschko suffered against Lennox Lewis in 2003.
In that case, the referee stopped the fight at the end of the sixth due to Vitali’s cut being too severe to allow him to continue. Lewis was then given a sixth-round knockout win.
Afterward, Vitali needed 60 stitches to close the wound. It was a cut about as bad as Fury’s, but for some reason, the 6’9″ Gypsy King was allowed to continue fighting against Wallin without his fight being stopped.
As you can see, it’s subjective when it comes to ringside doctors making a call to stop a fight.
Capetillo helped by Fury
“He knew my gym was closed. I was supposed to be in NY on March 14th but the fight was canceled,” said Capetillo to skysports.com about Fury.
“I came home with empty pockets. He said, ‘I’ll sort some money so you can be good.’ Such generosity for me and my family. And he is still very grateful,” Capetillo told Sky Sports. “He texted me and said: ‘Is there anything I can do to help?’ He is still taking care of me,” said Capetillo of Fury.
The cut was later worked on and sewed up, and Fury was able to get through his last fight against Deontay Wilder without it reopening. One reason for that is because it was a wipeout.
The former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) was no match for Fury on the night, and he ended up getting dropped twice and stopped on his feet in round seven.
In looking at all the blood that was leaking from Fury’s cut right-eye, you can’t say that Capetillo stopped the bleeding altogether. The cut was still leaking all over the ring, and the referee and the ringside doctor arguably should have halted the fight.
It makes you wonder if the Fury-Wallin fight would have been stopped if Fury wasn’t a famous fighter. If this were Joe Shmoe that Wallin was fighting, would the match be allowed to continue if he suffered a similar cut?
Following Fury’s victory over Wallin, he dumped trainer Ben Davison and brought in American Sugarhill Steward as the replacement. Fury went from fighting defensively to be an aggressive fighter under the help of Sugarhill, and he’s a much different fighter than the one that battled Wallin tooth and nail.