When Tyson Fury agreed to spar with Wayne Rooney to prepare for his fight against Oleksandr Usyk - "He's well up for it"

Tyson Fury once consented to spar with Wayne Rooney as part of his preparation for a planned bout against Oleksandr Usyk. Following his dominant 10th-round TKO victory over Derek Chisora to defend his WBC title in December 2022, 'The Gypsy King' issued a challenge to Oleksandr Usyk, aiming for a showdown to claim the undisputed heavyweight championship.

During an interview with ITV in December 2022, Fury humorously mentioned that he and the former Manchester United striker had agreed to spar. The 35-year-old said that he needed to practice against smaller opponents to prepare effectively for his then-potential clash with 'The Cat':

"I spoke to Wayne last night, and he's well up for it. But he's a right-handed person, so he's got to switch up to be southpaw left-handed. So we're going to bring Wayne in for preparation for Usyk. He's agreed, so he's going to come to camp for around four weeks to help me. I'm a big fan of his." [h/t GOAL]

Despite the initial plans, Fury and Rooney never ended up sparring. Additionally, the anticipated bout against the Ukrainian failed to materialize due to disagreements over the terms of an immediate rematch and later issues regarding the percentage split of the fight purse.

Fast forward to May 2024, Fury and Usyk are poised to clash in a 12-round bout this weekend (Saturday, May 18) at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The highly-anticipated showdown will decide the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era, commemorating a quarter-century since Lennox Lewis achieved this historic feat. Currently, Usyk holds the WBA, WBO, and IBF titles, while Fury is the WBC champion.

The heavyweight champions were originally set to meet last December, but the fight was delayed by two months due to Fury's strenuous victory over Francis Ngannou. Furthermore, 'The Gypsy King' sustained a cut during a sparring session in February, resulting in an additional three-month postponement of the match.

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When Wayne Rooney pushed for Tyson Fury's knighthood

Wayne Rooney, a passionate boxing enthusiast, was present ringside to support Tyson Fury during his victory over Derek Chisora.

Captivated by Fury's performance, the retired footballer stressed during an interview with TalkSPORT that it's overdue for his compatriot to receive knighthood recognition for achievements in the sport:

"I think he's the best we've seen in a long time, and I don't think anyone will beat him. I think he's an absolute legend for what he's done for boxing. He's entertaining, his skills are incredible, his mentality is incredible."

He added:

"If I'm being honest, I probably think he should be knighted because he hasn't been afraid to go abroad, he's won titles abroad, defended them abroad and he epitomises everything that boxing is."