Frank can still cut it for Tyson

MATT BOZEAT

THE oldest man in British boxing says a boozy night with Tyson Fury helped him get a place in the heavyweight champion’s corner for this month’s clash with Dillian Whyte at a sold-out Wembley.

At 75, Frank Hopkins is the oldest license holder with the British Boxing Board of Control and will be Fury’s cuts man after Jorge Capetillo said he couldn’t make it to the fight on April 23.

Capetillo got Fury through his fight with Sweden’s Otto Wallin in September 2019, after he suffered cuts that needed 47 stitches – and Hopkins has the experience to cope if Whyte inflicts similar damage.

He said: “I’ve never worked with Tyson before, but I’ve been in the same changing room as him – and we’ve had a few beers together as well.

“I was working with

Terry Flanagan at a fight in Manchester and when I went back to the hotel, Tyson was there with his dad, his wife and Billy-Joe Saunders.

“I started chatting to them and we ended up taking a crate of beer up to my room. We stayed up all night drinking and talking about boxing and horses. It was a good laugh.”

Hopkins says it’s a cool head that makes him the right man for Fury. He added: “If Tyson gets cut in front of 100,00 people and lots more in 39 countries around the world, it won’t be a problem.

“I don’t panic. I just get in there and do the job. I’m the same if it’s a four rounder or world title fight.

“Terry Flanagan came back to the corner during a world-title fight with a horrendous cut that went to his skull. He asked how bad it was. I said, ‘There’s nothing there. Don’t worry about it. Just get on with winning the fight’. He went on and won the fight.

“I’ve had fighters’ jaws fall in half, their eyes shut, even their backs go. I calm them down.”

FAITH Tyson Fury will have Frank Hopkins in his corner