Both Ben Adegbuyi and Tyson Fury are getting ready for what could be career-defining tilts. Fury, the Mancunian heavyweight boxer, is gearing up for the biggest fight of his career against Wladimir Klitschko on November 28th and Adegbuyi is prepping for a four-man heavyweight tournament at GLORY 24 on October 9.
Not only do both men have a common goal, to win, but they also have a common friend, Rico Verhoeven.
The friendship between Adegbuyi and Verhoeven is an interesting one. The two fought at GLORY 22 France in June, with Verhoeven coming out on top. Following that fight they struck up a friendship and Verhoeven introduced 'Mr. Gentleman' to Fury.
Adegbuyi spent three weeks in Manchester, England as a sparring partner for Fury, who used to live in the Netherlands and is a good friend and consistent training partner of Verhoeven's.
"Training with Fury was a good thing. Boxers are more slippery, they move a lot, always try to avoid punches. He was very hard to hit, so I think sparring with him has made my eyes better, made my reactions better," says Adegbuyi.
Adegbuyi found the training sessions to be quite helpful in improving the way he moves around the ring as well as bolstering his boxing skills.
"Kickboxers don't move so much, which makes it easier for me than trying to hit someone like Tyson Fury. So I think it's a good thing. It has improved my boxing and I think I will be able to hit these guys in the tournament even better than before."
Fury also thinks that the cross-discipline training will go a long way in helping him in his gigantic tilt against longtime champion 'Mr. Steelhammer.'
“These kickboxers don’t mess around. They don’t bring complaints. They get hit and keep coming forward. They’re not afraid of getting hit or being involved in a war. It’s second nature to them."
Ironically Adegbuyi hopes that training with Fury will give him another shot at their mutual friend at GLORY 26 Amsterdam where Verhoeven will put his title on the line against the winner of the tournament in Denver.
"I really want to fight in Amsterdam man! It will be amazing. Amsterdam is such an important city in kickboxing, the place where it all started, so it will be an incredible atmosphere... Everybody sees me as the favorite [in this tournament] but I don't like that. I am always the underdog and when you are the favorite it just means like an extra layer of pressure, there's no real benefit to it."
Adegbuyi will take on Croatian Mladen Brestovac in the semi-finals. Adegbuyi defeated him back in 2012, it was the only time they've ever fought.
The winner of that match will take on the winner of the Jahfarr Wilnis-Ben Edwards match.
GLORY 24 airs live on Spike starting at 11 pm.
