Big Bear In The Spotlight

Big Bear Lake is making the headlines again after Tyson Fury set up his training camp in the quiet Californian town ahead of his heavyweight showdown with Deontay Wilder on December 1.

Former champion Fury follows in the footsteps of ring legends Oscar De La Hoya, Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis, who helped establish Big Bear’s reputation in boxing circles during the 90s.

“My mate Tim has been going on about Big Bear Lake for I don’t know how long,” Fury told BT Sport. “When I was fighting in Belfast, ‘lets go to Big Bear’, when I’m fighting in Manchester, ‘let’s go to Big Bear. If I was fighting in the local shop, ‘lets go to Big Bear to prepare,’ so I thought we had to go to Big Bear to prepare.

“It’s in the middle of nowhere. There’s no distractions there, you’ve got Joe Joyce there for sparing as well and a few other guys, and whatever, so it’s going to be good. I want to get away and put in a good eight weeks of training.”

Fury has chosen to stay at The Summit Gym, where middleweight king Gennady Golovkin has honed his skills under the watchful eye of Abel Sanchez since 2010.

Veteran trainer Sanchez has moulded Triple G into one of the best pound-for-pound boxers around, while also turning the unassuming three-storey property into a world famous high altitude training camp for boxers.

The story behind The Summit Gym’s success, however, has as many twists and turns as the mountain road that leads you there.

Sanchez suffered a heart attack while building the property in 2001 and was forced to throw in the towel on training fighters. The house remained largely empty for five years and was put up for sale until six-weight world champion Oscar De La Hoya heard about it’s availability.

“He had trained up in Big Bear early in his career, and wanted someplace to train for his comeback fight against Manny Pacquiao in 2007,” Sanchez recalled on The Players’ Tribune.

“And once Oscar used it – Bam! –  everything happened so quickly. My phone was ringing off the hook with guys wanting to come here and train.”

Sanchez, who led Lupe Aquino, Terry Norris and Orlin Norris to title glory in his first stint as a trainer,  was about to undergo another career U-Turn.

“People kept calling. So I decided to help a couple of young fighters and little by little, I was back in the business. And the gym and the house became known as “The Summit.” It’s a boxer’s retreat, where they live and train, all in the one place.”

Up at The Summit the self-proclaimed “Gypsy King” will get back to basics and strip away any extra pounds piled on during on his two-and-a-half year absence due to mental health issues and a back-dated doping ban.

The 6ft 8ins tall undefeated fighter has already shed over 120 lbs after ballooning in weight to 385 lbs during his lay-off.

“I’m just going to stay in the mountains and be a big grizzly bear hillbilly,” said Fury. “I’m not even going to have a wash for this fight, I’m going to go in there stinking.”

Fury will have to be fully focused when he faces Wilder if he is to end the American’s four-year reign and winning run of 40 victories – 39 by knockout – on December 1.

“There are some house rules,” added Sanchez. “No women, no pets, no children. Those are just distractions when you’re up here training.”

The Summit Gym may be just what Fury needs if he is to shock the world a second time.

Photo by Charles McQuillan / Getty Images