Tyson Fury Strongly Feels McGregor’s Loss Was Due To Inactivity

WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury agrees with Conor McGregor’s explanation for his recent defeat.

Last month, in the main event of UFC 257 in Abu Dhabi, McGregor was shockingly knocked out in two rounds by Dustin Poirier in their pay-per-view rematch.

McGregor, 32-years-old, was already in talks for a 2021 boxing match with eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao.

Following his loss, McGregor explained that his inactivity over the years had finally caught up with him.

When he entered the octagon, McGregor had only two fights since suffering a TKO defeat in a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather in August of 2017.

Fury knows a lot about inactivity – after being away from the ring from November 2015 until July 2018 – as he overcame personal issues with depression and substance abuse.

“He did [say inactivity was the reason for the loss], and he’s bang on right. Conor McGregor fought in 2016, then he had two years out and then he fought Khabib [in 2018]. Then he had another two years out, and then he fought Cerrone [in January 2020]. Then he had another year out, and then he fought this guy, Poirier. So inactivity kills the cat, no doubt about it,” Fury told boxing scribe Gareth Davies.

“When one man’s been active – fighting, sparring and in camps – and one man’s been on the couch, it’s no good. You lose your timing, you lose your distance, you lose it all. You lose it all, it’s all gotta be gained back within camps and within fighting. If you had three fights on the bounce after you’d never been in the ring for three years, in the third one you’d be ten times better than the first.

“I’ve always known it. Because I’m a boxing historian I’ve always known about the inactivity. Gerry Cooney when he fought Larry Holmes – he was out of the ring for 18 months. His timing wasn’t there, he just wasn’t the same fighter as he should’ve been. If one man’s not active and one man’s been in the ring, it’s an uphill battle. Recently we saw Juan Pablo Hernandez, the former IBF cruiserweight champion, he came back after a long lay-off and fought journeyman Kevin Johnson and got knocked out.”