Tyson Fury's coach explains the real reason why he'll never look ripped like Anthony Joshua

Tyson Fury’s long-time strength and conditioning coach has explained why the ‘Gypsy King’ isn’t ripped like his heavyweight rival Anthony Joshua despite being the most professional fighter he’s ever come across.

Fury weighed in at 18st 13lb (120kg) ahead of his seventh-round victory over 46-year-old Mariusz Wach in Thailand last Friday (July 24).

The fight was widely viewed as a tune-up for a potential blockbuster clash with fellow Brit Joshua later in 2026, with AJ overcoming two first-round knockdowns to beat Albania’s Kristian Prenga by second-round knockout in Saudi Arabia on July 25.

As ever, Joshua appeared in optimal conditioning, with the Watford-born heavyweight rippling with muscle and next to no body fat.

However, throughout Fury’s career, fans have often commented on the ‘Gypsy King’s’ unique body shape.

Of course, the fact Fury is six feet nine inches tall is a factor, but his strength and conditioning coach, Kristian Blacklock, has gone into detail about why the two-time heavyweight world champion does not have six-pack abs like many of his fellow professionals.

READ NEXT: Kristian Prenga lashes out at Simon Jordan over Anthony Joshua conspiracy theory

Blacklock was keen to focus on the fact that Fury lost around 10 stone after he ballooned in weight between his 2015 victory over Wladimir Klitschko and his 2018 return against Sefer Seferi.

“You've got to remember the guy put 10 stone of fat on over about a two-and-a-bit-year period from the Klitschko fight,” Blacklock told SPORTbible.

The coach also described Fury as the most professional fighter he has ever worked with, adding that fighters in lower weight divisions struggle to keep up with the 37-year-old on long-distance runs.

“The guy's an endurance athlete,” Blacklock added.

“He can outrun any of these guys. The guys who come on training camps with Tyson don't realise how hard it is to keep up with him in training. None of the heavyweights ever keep up with him on the running, nowhere near him. There's a gulf between him and the next heavyweight. The middleweights struggle to keep up with him. We had a couple of undercard fighters, and they had to absolutely kill themselves to keep up with him on the run. I'm a good runner, and I've got to be absolutely killing myself to keep up with him for three miles. When he wants to do a big one of five or six miles, I can't keep up with him.”

'It wouldn't really be beneficial for his boxing'

Blacklock continued, describing how it would not be beneficial for Fury’s boxing career for him to become ripped and further reduce his body fat percentage, despite trimming down ahead of his most recent bout.

He explained: “He actually leaned up a little bit for this fight. He got in better shape and was a good four or five pounds lighter than he was for the last fight because it's a back-to-back training camp and he's just continuing the process. For him to be ripped up would be a different kind of process that wouldn't really be beneficial for his boxing.

“If you want him to get lean and lose as much fat as possible, you’d have him in a calorie deficit, but he wouldn’t perform as well.”

The fitness expert insisted that Fury lifts the same weights as more aesthetically built heavyweights, such as his training partner Mark “The Warchief” Ahondjo.

“It's not that he physically isn't capable of doing anything that the guys who look more athletic can do. He still is quite athletic, so it's almost like an illusion really.”

'He swears it helps him'

It was also revealed that Fury did not employ a nutritionist for his most recent camp, with Blacklock advising him on supplementation and recovery.

The fitness coach detailed how Fury’s diet was made up mostly of clean, simple foods such as fruit bowls, toast and eggs, and good protein and carbohydrate sources, as well as magnesium and zinc to maximise his body’s output.

“He didn't have a specific diet for the Wach fight, but he didn't overindulge,” Blacklock added.

“These heavyweights consume huge calories.

“Some of these guys will be on 5,000 calories a day, and they're losing weight, so Tyson will weigh himself quite regularly. That way, he knows which way he's trending and, obviously, if weight starts coming off too fast, that's an indication that you're not eating enough. We had a rough goal weight of what we wanted him to be for this fight, and he was pretty much slap bang where he wanted to be.”

Blacklock continued, explaining how Fury even jokes that an added layer of fat around his midriff helps soften the blow when body punches land on his stomach.

“He's got that little bit of loose flesh around his stomach and he swears it helps him. It's like a little cushion when he gets punched. He swears he doesn't get hurt to the body. I've watched him do body sparring and he lets people tee off on him, literally tee off on him. He doesn't get hurt to the body, he just laughs at them.”

Fury is expected to face Joshua later this year, with Blacklock set to be part of his team for what is arguably the biggest fight in British boxing history.