Tyson Fury’s nutritionist has explained the heavyweight’s body transformation ahead of Saturday’s fight with Oleksandr Usyk, which is set to crown an undisputed champion.
Briton Fury will carry the WBC title into Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena, while Ukraine’s Usyk holds the unified belts. Both boxers are unbeaten, with Usyk previously reigning as undisputed cruiserweight champion.
Usyk has also excelled at heavyweight, but many fans believe that Fury’s size advantage will prove the difference on Saturday (18 May). Fury is the bigger man, yet he looks significantly lighter and fitter than he did in October, when he narrowly beat ex-UFC champion Francis Ngannou.
“He’ll be 18.9 stone, 18.10st (264lbs),” Fury’s nutritionist, Greg Marriott, told Sky Sports at Thursday’s press conference.
“I’ve been with him since November, I was the first person to go in with him; I’ve been in camp with him for six months. Obviously we didn’t expect the cut [above Fury’s eye, which delayed the fight in February], but it was a blessing in disguise really. We had more time.
“I just said, ‘Listen, we need to get some fat off you,’ so we went out to Jeddah in November and did a fat-loss camp for six weeks, then got into serious training.
“Listen, he’s telling me himself, he’s never gonna be body beautiful. It’s not about that. The body composition that has changed with him… I think people think he’s gonna be like 17.13st (249lbs) – never.
“He said to me, ‘Greg, I ain’t felt like this since Wilder 2’,” Marriott continued, referencing Fury’s masterclass against Deontay Wilder in 2020. Fury stopped the American that night, before replicating the result in 2021 – three years after drawing with Wilder.
“Watch what he does to Usyk. It’ll be like man versus boy, I promise you. He’s a serious Tyson Fury at the minute,” Marriott said.
“People say, ‘What’s changed in camp the last three years?’ Me. I’m not being big-headed, it is. I’ve come in and I’ve said: ‘Right, this is what we’re gonna do.’ And it’s nice, because he’s trusted me with everything. To have someone like Tyson trust me with everything that goes in his mouth… He won’t let anything else past his lips, so it’s an honour to be trusted with that job.
“What I’ve done in the past, he knows. I took 9st off him with [coach] Ben Davison in 2017 for his comeback. It’s come round full circle.”
In October, Fury was at a career-heaviest 277.7lbs for his fight with Ngannou, who dropped the Briton early but lost a controversial decision.
Usyk last fought in August, stopping Daniel Dubois after weighing in at 220.9lbs – marginally lighter than his career-heaviest 221.5lbs, which was his approximate weight for both of his wins over Anthony Joshua, in 2021 and 2022.
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