THIS’LL BE A DODDLE
TYSON RUSTY BUT READY FOR WILDER
TYSON FURY admits he could have done with one more fight before facing Deontay Wilder.
But the former world heavyweight champion did not want to miss the chance of a money-spinning blockbuster in Las Vegas that promoter Frank Warren reckons will be the biggest heavyweight fight since Lennox Lewis against Mike Tyson in 2002.
Fury, 30, will go into the November 10/17 clash on the back of just two fights in three years following his lenghty absence from the ring.
One of those was a four-round farce against Sefer Seferi in June, while Saturday’s points win against Francesco Pianeta at Windsor Park offered him rounds if not a stoppage victory.
Fury said: “I’m ready but in an ideal world I could have done with another 10-round or 12-round fight.
“Sometimes you have to step up and be a man. I’ll put my best foot forward and rise up to the occasion.”
But if you thought that admission was a sign Fury has doubts about facing the unbeaten Bronze Bomber then you’d be mistaken.
It is definitely a risk in the gambling mecca of the world for Fury as, while he was never troubled by Pianeta, he is still shaking off ring rust heading into a huge fight.
But after facing off with Wilder in the ring and promising to “knock him the f*** out” he then started singing before the post-fight press conference with American Pie the tune of choice.
Yet it was Frank Sinatra, not Don McLean, he paraphrased to show he holds no fear.
He said: “I’ve been to America and conquered it when I beat Steve Cunningham in New York and, as Frank Sinatra said, if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere.
“Las Vegas will be a doddle. It’s alright being a big fish in the small pond of the United Kingdom, but if you want to be the Dom Perignon then you’ve got to go to America like Lennox Lewis did or like all the greats before me who tried.”
Fury is all smiles after a dark few years battling mental health problems while fighting a legal battle with UK Anti-Doping over a failed drug test.
Now he claims that inspiring others going through the same difficult journey motivates him.
He said: “I’m not going into this for a paycheque. I wouldn’t lose for £100m, you can’t pay any amount of money for me to go to Vegas to get sparked out.
“I’d rather have no money and win than £200bn and lose.”
Warren, Fury’s promoter, thinks the fight will eclipse Anthony Joshua’s 2017 cracker with Wladimir Klitschko.
He said: “It’s the best heavyweight fight in a long time, isn’t it? This is on the level of Lewis against Tyson. it’s a big fight.”
If you want to be the Dom Perignon you’ve got to go to America TYSON FURY