THERE was a point, during his epic victory over Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas on Saturday, when you might have been wondering if Tyson Fury could do it. If he could get dropped by such a fearsome puncher and persevere. Well, it happened twice. In the fourth round Wilder had sent Fury crashing to the canvas. Yet each time he rose. He went on in the fight and ultimately prevailed, putting Wilder down three times overall and knocking him out in the 11th round.
Fury didn’t think of much when he did hit the deck. “Not a great deal [went through his mind],” Fury said. “You go swimming and you’re going to get wet. You mess with fire long enough, you get burned. I’ve had three fights with the biggest puncher in the history of my sport, in my division and he caught me. He caught me twice in the fourth round but I was never thinking, ‘Oh this is over.’ I was thinking okay good shot. I’ll get you back in a minute and I did.
“I was always there. He shook me, he put me down and that’s boxing. It’s life as well. It’s not about how many times you get put down or how many times you lose. It’s about how many times you can lose and keep getting back up and keep moving forward, like Rocky said. You’ve got to keep moving forward in a positive manner and keep fighting. Not just in the boxing but in life in general. Because nothing’s going to be easy. If you want something that’s very hard to get you’ve got to sacrifice and dedicate and keep pushing no matter what and never let anybody tell you, you can’t. Because tonight again, time and time again, I showed you it’s very possible to achieve anything you ever want as long as you believe it in here.”
“I don’t make excuses. I’m as fit as a fiddle, I’m as strong as an ox so it was what it was and now I’m going to go home and regroup and spend some well-earned time with my kids and my wife,” he concluded. “It was edge of the seat stuff, could have swung either way. When it comes down it, when I have to pull the chips out, every time I’ve delivered.
“I’ve never let anyone down, I always give it my all 100% of the time. I came into this fight thinking you can only do your best in life, whatever’s destined, whatever’s written in the stars for you will be. I dedicated my life and I got the victory tonight.”
