Fury: Wilder needs to know I am the champ
TYSON SAYS WORLD WILL SEE HEAVYWEIGHT SUGAR RAY LEONARD ON SATURDAY NIGHT
TYSON Fury insists it is Deontay Wilder who is being handed the chance to face him for his lineal heavyweight championship – not the other way round.
The Manchester boxer fights Francesco Pianeta at Windsor Park in Belfast on Saturday, and with Wilder set to be ringside, an announcement on the potential fight between Fury and Wilder could come soon after.
It gives Fury an opportunity to once again compete for a world title, as Wilder holds the WBC heavyweight belt. Despite that, the 30-year-old has rubbished claims Wilder is handing him a shot, instead insisting it’s him that is allowing the American to challenge for his lineal title.
“If I come through this fight with Pianeta then Wilder has the chance to fight me – the lineal champion. Let’s face it, he’s not fought anybody,” said Fury.
“Pianeta knows that if he wins he will fight Wilder instead of me, so what you’re likely to see from me on Saturday is a heavyweight Sugar Ray Leonard. Anything less is a failure. Judge me on that comment – a heavyweight Sugar Ray Leonard.
“I study my heavyweights and I know that Pianeta has fought some good men. He’s going to try and knock me out and he’s southpaw which is a lot more awkward because there aren’t many of them in the division, so it’s hard to get sparring. But every southpaw I’ve ever fought I’ve knocked out.”
Fury will weigh in for the fight with Pianeta tomorrow, and will be even lighter than the 276 pounds he tipped the scales during his first comeback fight with Sefer Seferi in June.
He admits it has been a long road back, and has also made it clear the old Fury that was on display before his time away from the sport is now long gone.
“I want to win a world title again, so I’ll have to raise my game.
“After having three years out of the ring and after ballooning to 28 stone and then down to 18-and-a-half stone – it’s a terrible, terrible uphill battle. To lose that weight is mentally and physically draining, to train continuously for 12 months, you have to have a want,” he said.
“The old Tyson Fury is gone, Tyson Fury from three years ago and beyond is finished.
“I’m not looking to live in the past, I’m looking to go on and improve on what I am today and tomorrow.
“The new Tyson Fury is going to put on a good fight, whether that will be better or worse than the last Tyson Fury, we’ll have to wait and see on Saturday.”