Fury says struggle for happiness will leave him sad and lonely after boxing
Hopponent Wilder is ‘world’s most dangerous heavyweight’ must get career back on track if pair are ever to meet
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Tyson Fury opened up on his struggles to find happiness, and revealed that as “an old-school fighter” he had abstained from sex ahead of his World Boxing Council heavyweight title defence against Deontay Wilder here on Saturday.
There was also a nuanced aside to rival Anthony Joshua, who suffered a title loss to Oleksandr Usyk last month, to get his career back on track before the two Britons can contemplate meeting in the ring.
Undefeated Fury, 33, who has held the four heavyweight titles in two reigns, was speaking yesterday as anticipation builds ahead of his third encounter with a fighter he calls “the most dangerous heavyweight in the world”. The American is without question the most powerful puncher in the sport.
Fury also talked about how his mental demons can return outside the ring. “What motivates me? I’m getting asked this a lot,” he said. “It’s definitely not a few quid, it’s a fact there’s nothing else. I’m boxing because I can. I don’t enjoy anything else, I don’t have any hobbies. After boxing I will be a very sad, lonely person. I’ve tried raising animals, four-wheeled driving, got a shotgun licence, clay-pigeon shooting, nothing turns me on.”
The Briton began to experience mental health issues after beating Wladimir Klitschko in Dusseldorf in November 2015.
“I had climbed my Everest, and there was nowhere left to go, I had achieved everything I set out to do,” Fury said at the time, explaining how he had ballooned to 27st and was battling suicidal thoughts.
Boxing, however, has saved him. “I’ve drunk all the beer in the world and done everything. I’ve been on boats, planes, automobiles, stayed in luxury hotels, had dinners for two or three grand, does it make me happy? No. While you are searching for stuff like that, you never find happiness, but with simplicity you can.
“I will never be a politician, the prime minister or a rocket scientist. I will always be myself, I don’t want to change my circles,” Fury told the
BBC yesterday. “I will always train, until I die. I’ve got a gym in Morecambe and a massive training facility. When I end boxing I will go full-time with the gym and the foundation stuff.
“I’ve not had the time, I’m flat out with my career but I’ll spend a lot of time doing that.”
Fury, a father of six, disclosed that he had abstained from sleeping with his wife, Paris, during this training camp, most of which was spent in Morecambe, before moving to the Mojave desert three weeks ago. “I don’t believe in sex during training camp, or before the fight. I am an old-school fighter and I like to keep nice and strong, keep it all in the tank and then take it all out on the night,” he said.
Asked if the fight with Joshua was still a huge contest, following Joshua’s defeat, Fury said: “I keep my own business to myself. But let’s just say, if it was me who lost to a cruiserweight, then they would have been kicking me in the b------left, right and centre. Tell the truth. Every man here knows that I’d have been wrote off.
“But I don’t like to kick a man when he’s down, I want to kick a man when he is flying in the sky and everything is rolling for him. Then I want to challenge him. I don’t want to challenge him when he’s at his lowest, stick a few more knives in him and make him feel even worse.
“I’ve got nothing bad to say about Joshua. His business is his business. He has to take care of it and he couldn’t and that’s his problem. In this game, landscapes change all the time. Klitschko was supposed to be an easy victory against me. They were confident I would get beat up. You can’t help what happens in boxing. You have some fights, you win some and you lose some. That is all it is. There is always going to be someone out there better than you on the night. That’s a fact.
“But it’s not just one loss: he’s been knocked out and he’s been beaten on points. All these fights are big fights. For now, truth is, I’ve no interest in other people. I’ve no interest in Joshua, anyone out there in the division, I don’t care about. You know why? Because I’ve got Deontay Wilder to care about. That’s all I care about.”