ITโs the same question. Who is Tyson Fury? The former heavyweight champion of the world is a mass contradictions. Was his absence from the sport self-inflicted or imposed, as he needed to resolve the fall out from a failed drug test? Was he tormented during that exile? Or did he enjoy it? Is he ready to challenge once again for the titles he used to hold? Or is the Anthony Joshua fight going to be too difficult to make?
Did he suffer in that two-and-a-half-year hiatus from boxing?ย There was turmoil. He reached his lowest points, battling with despair, ballooning in weight, partying in a way that was inconducive to the life of a professional athlete. But Tyson Fury of course is unrepentant. โI actually enjoyed being fat,โ he declared. โI used think Iโm a real Big Poppa nowโฆ It didnโt affect my confidence. Weโre all beautiful no matter fat or thin.โ
But being the heavyweight champion of the world is a strange place, he reports. Every day is like Christmas Day, says Fury. โThatโs what itโs like when youโre a bad man like me. There comes a point in your life when youโve dreamed a dream, like Susan Boyle did, she dreamed a dream. And the dream became reality Itโs like okay, what next? When youโre living the dream every day, what do you do?โ he asks. โIf itโs Christmas every single day of the year, 365 days is Christmas Day, it gets a bit boring doesnโt it? When you can go out and do what you want, when you want, go anywhere you want, eat what you want, drink what you want, nothing becomes a treat anymore. So thatโs what it was really.โ
Can Fury come back from that though? His uncle Peter Fury was in his corner for his 2015 triumph over Wladimir Klitschko. Now he has a new trainer, the untested Ben Davison but Tyson of course maintains that he can get back to his best. Well, to be more accurate, he claims heโs back to his best right now. โIโm ready. I can beat AJ tomorrow night. I can beat [Deontay] Wilder, [Joseph] Parker, all of them. I can beat them all. Iโm ready to fight. Iโve been sparring 12 rounds with three different guys, one in, one out. Iโve no need to tell you a lie. Iโm better now than I was before,โ he said. โI know nobody can beat me and I know Iโve still got it.โ
While Fury recused himself, Joshua won the WBO, WBA and IBF heavyweight world titles, filled stadia across the UK and is surely one of the biggest names in the sport. Tyson, in his own estimation, is ready for that challenge now, but is happy to bide his time. โIโm looking to win a world title back this year actually,โ Fury said. โThe way I look at it is whatโs going to be is going to be. If itโs a world title fight or John Murray in my return, it is what it is. It doesnโt matter who I fight in the return because itโs my personal ambition to fight again.โ
Even though they are currently signed with rival promoters, Fury with Frank Warren and Joshua with Eddie Hearn, Tyson is adamant it wonโt be the business of boxing that keeps them apart. โIโve made it very, very easy now, this fight. I think itโs a fight that needs to happen. The biggest fight in British boxing history, in my opinion and I think itโs made it very easy now, to make the fight. When we announce the broadcaster in a minute [or at some later date], itโs going to be two of the biggest broadcasters in the country going head to head for the biggest fight of the century. So whoeverโs got the most money will put the fight on,โ Fury said. โ[Or a] joint broadcast. Pacquiao and Mayweather were on HBO and Showtime.โ
On Thursday, after announcing his June 9 return in Manchester, Fury declined to fire any verbal broadsides at Joshua. โI respect any fighter who gets in between the ropes. How could you not respect a world heavyweight champion. Wilder as well, Parker, all the guys. Theyโre all very good boxers. Anybody who can get in there and box at a high level deserves a lot of respect, credit. They deserve a lot of money and deserve a lot of attention. From me 10 times more, because me more than anybody else knows how hard it is. So they deserve everything that they get and Iโm very proud of these guys. Because letโs not forget these guys didnโt come from a private education. They came from the gutter, theyโve come from nowhere. And now theyโre at the top of the tree. You have to congratulate people like this,โ Fury said.
Though he claims, โI am the lineal heavyweight champion. I have the status going back to John L. Sullivan. From the first heavyweight champion in history, I carry the lineage of the division and until someone beats me then they canโt take it. Thatโs just the way it is.โ
He added, โTo be the lineal heavyweight in my opinion is better than being any alphabetical title holder. Because thereโs that many about today, come on, who really cares?โ
With the prospect of trying to become a two-time heavyweight champion being dangled in front of him, historic precedents have been mentioned. But Fury says heโs not inspired by the champions of boxingโs glorious past. He conquered โhis Everestโ when he beat Klitschko. Now he wants to tame, or harness at least, the unsatisfied impulses that tore him away from the sport.
โThe past is the past. I donโt look to other fighters for inspiration or anything like that,โ he said. โThis is more my personal self. Before it was about winning belts and earning a few quid, doing right and being remembered and all that. But now itโs about me. Being very selfish, itโs about me. I want to get there and prove to me that I can go through all those things and come back and still fight again. Itโs not about winning a belt in my next fight or being rich or whatever. Itโs about me personally getting in there and boxing. Hereโs the point. Thereโll never be another Tyson Fury.”
โThereโs never been somebody in that position, what I done, to walk away from that amount of money and say no, not interested. Euromillions wins I walked away from. I said no, donโt care,” he continued. “It was what it was. I didnโt want to do it and I didnโt do it. Nothing or nobody could make me do anything I donโt want to do.
โTo come back, do it all again, if I can come back and do it all again, Iโll be very blessed.โ
He sounds the same. The brash man who promised heโd beat Klitschko 2015 still declares himself the best heavyweight in the world in 2018. But with the ascent of Joshua, and of Wilder, now he has something to prove all over again. Who is Tyson Fury? Once he finally steps into the ring and under the lights at the Manchester Arena on June 9, weโll know a little bit more.