Peter Fury has spoken on James Dean Fury’s recent debut win over six rounds.
Peter is James Dean’s great-uncle and long-time coach.
James Dean Fury was a standout amateur, becoming a three-time national champion before turning professional a couple of weeks ago.
He signed with Ben Shalom ahead of his long-anticipated debut in Leeds.
The 20-year-old faced Dzmitry Atrokhau at super-middleweight, a seasoned fighter who had a record of 16 wins and 36 defeats prior to the bout.
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James Dean got the job done with a decision win over six rounds but admitted he wasn’t happy with his performance afterwards.
His trainer and great-uncle, Peter, spoke to Boxing Now.
“He’s had a vast, solid amateur pedigree and experience, so I think a six-rounder was good.
“[Professional boxing] It is totally different to amateur boxing.”
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Fury provided an insight into why Atrokhau was selected as the opponent to share the ring with James Dean on his highly anticipated debut.
“He took on a good, solid journeyman and don’t forget, he has only been stopped twice. He comes to fight.
“That’s why he was picked. He’s awkward, he’s southpaw and he fights back.”
Having overseen James Dean’s amateur career, Peter gave a tactical insight into where he believed his nephew fell short.
“James Dean was tippy-tapping a lot and not putting any power behind it. It wasn’t because he doesn’t know how to do it, the nerves just got the better of him basically.
“He hasn’t learned the hard way because I liked his boxing. He showed good boxing skills, he just didn’t use his brain in there.”
Interestingly, the 58-year-old believes the pressure and anticipation of a professional debut was the catalyst for an underwhelming performance, as he detailed some of the events that took place during fight week.
“It was a big event and he wanted to do so well. Look at his comments after; to be like how he was after the fight shows how much pressure he put on himself.
“So now I hope he understands why he couldn’t perform because he was too bothered about, ‘I need to look great’ – typical 20-year-old.
“He wanted to do everything perfect. He lost three kilograms in fight week. That’s not training, that’s nerves. He must have been up all night.
“On the day he said to me, ‘I can’t stop thinking about it.’
“I said, ‘It’s going to be okay, relax. It is all part of the journey.’”
James Dean is set to return to the ring in the coming months, with Peter providing a prediction for his next performance and a timescale for when he may be back in action.
“He is going to do a lot better. You have only seen 30% of James Dean Fury.
“He is going to be better and I think he’ll be boxing again in early October.”
