“The fact that it’s for charity, I think, is fantastic. There’s not one negative thing to say about that. There’s probably not a negative to say about it all, to be honest. It’s strategical,” said Clarke to Boxing King Media about Fury’s decision to face 46-year-old Wach in a behind closed doors tune-up. “We know that it’s Mariusz Wach. We know what he offers. He’s a big lump. If he’s preparing for AJ, he’s probably bigger than AJ, I think.
“He’s been around the block. I’ve beat him myself. The last time I seen him boxing, Moses Itauma put him over. It’s calculated. As we’ve seen in boxing over the last few years, if you’re at the top of the sport, you sort of choose what you do and what you don’t do.”
Clarke also pointed to Fury remaining in Thailand for training camp, saying the bout gives him valuable ring time without disrupting preparations for a much bigger fight later in the year.
“Tyson’s doing that over in Thailand where he’s training. Doesn’t want to do too much traveling from the sounds of it. Flying Mariusz Wach in, a glorified spar, I think. But it’ll go down as a contest. Probably smart stuff,” said Clarke.
“It keeps him busy, keeps him in fight preparation, doing the ring walk, doing everything, preparing up to a fight. I think this is basically just a keep-me-busy fight, a bit of a tick-over.”
Asked who would win between Wach and Anthony Joshua’s upcoming opponent, Kristian Prenga, Clarke sided with the veteran Pole.
“It’s a good one. Mariusz Wach’s no mug. I think Prenga’s a little bit younger, a bit fresher, but Mariusz Wach could do him, you know.”
Fury meets Wach on July 24 in Pattaya, Thailand, one day before Joshua returns against Kristian Prenga in Saudi Arabia. Clarke sees the bout as little more than a calculated “glorified spar,” a low-risk assignment designed to keep Fury sharp before a much bigger fight later this year.
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