INITIATION TO THE KRONK
WHAT do you recall of your first sight of Tyson Fury at the cramped Kronk Gym?
JOHNATHON BANKS: I already knew Tyson Fury from travelling around with Andy Lee, so it wasn’t a shock to me like it was everybody else. He was exactly who he is today – a charismatic guy, a people person, and not scared of anything. I observe everybody who comes into the gym. He was just comfortable; being himself. To the naked eye it could be intimidating going to a place that developed so many world champions if you’re walking in there for the first time, or with someone like Emanuel Steward. But if Emanuel was walking in the gym with somebody, you must be somebody.
A lot of [the other fighters] were surprised at how big he was. A lot of them were like, “Wow, this dude is big, but can he fight?”. Then they said, “He walked in with Emanuel – he must be able to fight”.
I was living at Emanuel’s house, so I already knew what was going on [with Fury’s visit]. We spent more time together when we went into [Wladimir Klitschko’s training] camp, to Austria. As a fighter goes – man, I couldn’t wait to get in the ring and spar him. It was a good time. Especially somebody so big.
I remember walking in one day and seeing this big, tall white guy. I introduced myself. He said, “I’m Tyson Fury”. I said, “Not your nickname – what’s your real name?”. He said, “No,
