MIND GAMES
Top British fighter claims he is bigger than Wilder in the United States
Fury prepares to box Wilder
Tyson Fury resumed his mind games on Saturday, declaring himself better known in the United States than Alabaman Deontay Wilder, with whom he contests the World Boxing Council crown in Los Angeles on December 1.
Fury, the challenger, told The Sunday Telegraph: “I was in camp and a guy came over and said the Wladimir Klitschko fight was a great fight, and asked me what I was doing over here... I said I was training to fight Deontay Wilder. He said, ‘Who’s that guy?’ I told him he was the American world heavyweight champion. He didn’t know him.
“Deontay Wilder? Who? I believe Deontay’s thinking he needs to defeat me to give himself some gratification. And what better time to do it when he thinks I’m at my lowest?“
Fury, at his training camp in the Hollywood Hills, went on: “If I didn’t think I could defeat Deontay Wilder, I wouldn’t be here. I live in a nice house, I’ve got a beautiful family. But if we had to move out of that house into a trailer and have nothing, I would prefer to do that than to go into this fight just for money knowing I can’t win.”
Fury is enjoying the limelight in Los Angeles, where the media and the fans have taken to him.
“I think Americans love the comeback story, and my story has captured the imagination of the public – because it’s almost like a fairy-tale story. I went from rags to riches, back to rags. I suffered with depression, contemplated suicide, lost everything I ever had and worked hard for. To then turn my life around again and get back to the pinnacle of the sport within a year, it’s a compelling story.”
Fury said he and Wilder had almost come to blows on their media tour in London, New York and Los Angeles.
“People say it was acting, but when two unbeaten champions are face to face, both with a point to prove, calling each other names, you only need one shove too many and it’s off. We’re fighters. It was heated for the three days and I was exhausted afterwards.”
Fury says of Wilder: “I respect him as a fighter and a man. I don’t need to dislike him. He does seem to be an angry man, though, doesn’t he?” –