BEING The Heavyweight Champion Of The World is a burden. While Tyson Fury is hardly bogged down by the weight of history attached to the job, he does not relish the obligations that come with the role.
โIโm like a performing monkey, arenโt I?โ he reflected. โEvery single press conference, every single press event, every single time Iโm on the camera, music plays, silent music and Tyson Fury performs. Like one of those rattle snakes in India going round like that to the music or a dancing monkey.
โIโm really a joke arenโt I? To tell the truth. When you think about it really, it is quite funny isnโt it? Because every single time I play to being the bad guy, the villain, the outlaw, the outcast, person who donโt care, every single media event and all that. So it is what it is. People obviously like to see that. Some people donโt like it but the majority of them do.โ
He mused on the nature of boxing, ageing, living and dying. โLegacies, what do they really mean? You won a few fights. You were successful at what you done. Iโm a big believer in being what you are now,โ Tyson said. โIโm not really too interested in leaving a legacy because legacies mean youโre obviously retired, youโre past your best or youโre a has-been. So that doesnโt really mean a lot to me. What does mean a lot to me? Not even boxing. If that meant a lot to me because if it did mean a lot to me then I wouldnโt go into camp four stone overweight would I? And I wouldnโt have ate every pie in Lancashire and drunk every pint of beer in the UK. So clearly it doesnโt mean anything to me and Wladimir says heโs excited, heโs motivated, heโs happy, heโs enjoying myself. Well, I canโt tell you I ainโt. I hate every second of it and I wish I wasnโt a boxer but Iโm in this position and Iโm going to do it. I hate every second of training, I hate the boxing, I hate the lot. I hate speaking to all you idiots. I hate the lot. I donโt want to be here. Iโd rather be at home with the kids watching television. Iโd rather be at home eating some chocolate and eating some sweets than be here talking about boxing. I hate boxing, put it that way, but Iโm just too f****** good at it to stop and Iโm making too much money.
โHow can I stop now? Because it would be daft wouldnโt it. Easy money to be made knocking over a few bums. Something I do anyway so it is what it is. Iโm not motivated for the fight. Wladimir, if he wants to come and win it, heโs got to come and knock me out, itโs simple. But obviously Iโll be in the other corner and Iโll be fighting back. So it is what it is. I hope he has a great camp, I hope he has the best camp of his life, I hope he winds the clock back 30 years and I hope he puts me into next week. Then I wonโt have to do it again will I? I can retire then happy and get fat and put my feet up and watch the kids. Then me and Paris can go on loads of holidays and enjoy what weโve done until get old and then die. Then you can bury me and say Tyson was a world champion. And what? Then what? Thereโs plenty of people dead whoโs been world champions or successful in their life. Only their loved ones and family really remember them.โ
From mocking his July 9 opponent Wladimir Klitschko, the previous world heavyweight champion, a hint of pity crept in towards the end Tysonโs words at their press conference on Wednesday. โGetting oldโs horrible isnโt it? Klitschko is getting old, whether he likes it or not, 40, itโs getting time for the carpet slippers and the rocking chair, not quite yet, but after the fight itโll be time to go into politics or whatever heโs going to do and then the chapter turns to the next story,โ Fury said. โWhat do I do after I beat the great Klitschko? The great person who nobody thought could lose. Heโs a bit like the Trojans. The Klitschkos are like the Trojans. Thought they were unbeatable until it took a bit of brains and they [the Greeks] come over and done them in. I snipered the titles away. It is what it is. Boxing is what it is. Thereโs plenty of boxers out there, plenty of fighters and plenty of trainers. Do they enjoy it? I donโt know. Do I enjoy it? Definitely not.โ
He drew a contrast between himself and Klitschko. โBut I do it to get paid and to enjoy my life and provide a future for my kids. So if thatโs a bad thing then Iโm a bad person and Wladimirโs great person because heโs obviously earned a lot more money than I have, so credit to him. People do these sports for different reasons. Wladimir clearly does it because he loves it. Itโs not a money thing for Wlad because he already multiย [millionaire] and itโs not a flash in the pan, something that heโs interested in, a hobby because heโs doing it till heโs 40 and heโs been fighting all his life. So itโs obviously something that he loves to do and when youโre like that youโre capable of anything. Going into a fight with a man whoโs capable of anything, who loves training even at 40 and even when heโs rich. He loves training, he loves killing himself, living a strict lifestyle, heโs a dangerous opponent because I donโt live a strict lifestyle. I donโt even live an athleteโs lifestyle. Itโs an absolute disgrace to call me an athlete. You couldnโt call me an athlete,โ Tyson announced.
Then without ceremony he stood up in front of Klitschko, both their camps, the television cameras, photographers, assembled media and watching fans and peeled his shirt off, displaying an unmistakably round belly. He patted his stomach contentedly, the smile returning to his face. He turned to Klitschko and roared, โWhatโs the point of practising your job for 40 years if you canโt beat a fat man?โ
Tyson Fury is, as ever, larger than life. He might have less joy for boxing than he once did, he may be more aware of the absurdities and hard realities of the sport than most (and few illustrate that better than Fury). But the glimmer of enduring mischief in him still burns as brightly ever.