Lapin: "Sparring Began Several Months Ago"

Sergey Lapin , the CEO of the team of WBA, WBO, IBF, and IBO heavyweight (over 90,7 kg) champion Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) and co-founder of Ready To Fight, spoke about Oleksandr's preparation for the fight against WBC titleholder Tyson Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs).

— Sergey, how is Usyk's preparation for the fight with Tyson Fury going?

— Everything is going well. The team is analyzing the opponent. We are planning the further program in the training camp. We are considering which elements of training to focus on more. Sparring began several months ago when we were preparing for a fight in February. It didn’t really stop; rather, we just took a short break. For some time, we focused on physical conditioning.

— Considering Tyson Fury's anthropometry, is there a problem finding sparring partners for Oleksandr?

— Finding sparring partners has been simplified thanks to our Ready to Fight project. Now, it's enough to create an application on the platform rtfight.com and select suitable candidates. You just need to enter the parameters of the potential opponent. During the preparation for the fight, we actually involved up to 15 sparring partners.

— What's the work schedule in the training camp? Is Sunday a day off?

— Yes, Sunday is a day off. It usually involves going to church and preparing for the next work week.

— Are there many refusals among boxers when they get an offer to come to the training camp?

— Not at all. Everyone wants to come and train with the champion. But the key question here is what benefit they can bring to the camp. We invite those who provide a full volume of work and show good results. How much does the training camp cost now? Our camps take place in different countries and therefore have different budgets. But it costs hundreds of thousands.

The fight for the title of the absolute world champion in the heavyweight division between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury is scheduled for May 18 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.