"Tyson Fury had a great mentality and none of these issues have any affect. Is he fooling me? Fooling himself? I don't think so," Bob Arum tells Sky Sports; Fury to face Deontay Wilder on October 9
Friday 6 August 2021 06:01, UK
Tyson Fury has not been affected "adversely" by the postponement and contracting Covid-19 in the build-up to his fight with Deontay Wilder, says his promoter Bob Arum.
Fury will defend his WBC heavyweight championship in a trilogy fight with Wilder in Las Vegas on October 9, rearranged after an earlier date was postponed when he contracted Covid-19.
He had previously been deep in negotiations to fight Anthony Joshua for the undisputed title until a court of arbitration ruled that he must instead face Wilder again.
"I'm not a psychiatrist but I spent considerable time with Fury after the arbitrator's decision then after his diagnosis," Top Rank's Arum told Sky Sports.
"It seemed to me he wasn't affected by anything.
"Tyson had a great mentality and none of these issues have any affect.
"Is he fooling me? Fooling himself? I don't think so.
"None of this has affected him adversely."
Arum reflected on the postponement of Fury vs Wilder III after the champion tested positive for Covid-19: "It was negligence on all of ours parts - Top Rank's and Tyson's.
"It started out with a nice, relatively small group, of sparring partners in our gym.
"Before anybody realised the sparring partners were bringing in friends and [Fury's trainer] Sugarhill Steward had other fighters that he was training. Nobody was testing.
"It was going on the way we used to do it, before Covid. That was irresponsible on all of our parts.
"Tyson had a relatively mild case but had heavy breathing and congestion.
"There was no choice but to postpone it.
"We are hoping the bans on travel will be lifted and we will get some Brits over for the fight. They bring such a vibe to an arena!"
The promoter vowed the same mistake would not happen again: "We are experts on the bubble. We invented the bubble before the NBA did.
"The gym will be a complete bubble. Nobody is getting in without a test.
"If you are negative, you come into the gym. If you are positive, goodbye.
"Sparring partners are not allowed to bring their entourages. We won't have Sugarhill training six or seven other people.
"The gym will be devoted completely to Tyson.
"Two of his sparring partners are on the undercard - Efe Ajagba and Jared Anderson."
