Tyson Fury strives to become the first new undisputed world heavyweight champion for a quarter of a century expecting Saturday night’s fight here with Oleksandr Usyk to take years off his life. In fact, more years.
That is the price the Gypsy King knows he pays every time he takes one of his giant strides over the ropes into what is being promoted here in the Arabian desert as the Ring Of Fire. At 35 he is acutely aware that the debilitating effects of a gruelling battle worsen with age.
Nor is he in any doubt that the plunging of his own WBC crown into the furnace of Ukrainian war hero Usyk’s WBA, IBF and WBO world titles will be as scorching as they come.
When Fury sits back after acting up on the promotional stage as boxing’s showman supreme, so the parallel success of retrieving his mental health from bi-polar depression reveals itself.
Of this occasion he says: ‘I do believe that every time you enter the ring, you will leave with less than you had when you went in. Each (big) fight takes a little bit more out of you. It’s a good job that I live for today. If I thought about the future I’d be screwed. As Apollo Creed said to Rocky (in the movie) there is no tomorrow.
Tyson Fury admitted that he believes every time he leaves the ring he returns ‘with less’ than when he went in
He takes on Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday in Saudi Arabia in one of the biggest fights of the century
Fury and Usyk will face off against one another for the right to be called the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world
‘In my faith (Catholic) there is no tomorrow, either. Jesus said that when he comes back it will be like a thief in the night. No time, date or hour announced. So be prepared for it at all times and live for the day. Because tomorrow ain’t promised.’
Fury emphasised that philosophy as he recalled lost friends and family: ‘There are a few people I’ve known who went to bed one night and didn’t wake up in the morning.
‘So I greet every day as a blessing. I enjoy every day. And whenever people ask me how I am I just say ‘’I’m alive.’’ That’s a good start to any day.’
Fury has a legion of supporters against judgemental critics of his ticket-selling exhibitionism and if he defeats Usyk he is expected to be favourite for the first time to become BBC Sports Personality it the Year.
As for taking huge bucks to bring this biggest of all fights thousands of miles away from his home fans, he references departed followers by saying: ‘If any of the people around my career are missing it means they’re dead. Because those not physically here can watch it live on TV.
‘I’m sure the dead have better things to think about than a boxing match. If they’re up there in heaven they’re doing heavenly things. If they’re in hell they’re burning.’
Conscious of his own mortality, he goes on: ‘For myself, it’s always one fight at a time. The last five years have passed like that. 2019 feels like yesterday. But my daughter was a little girl then and now she’s massive. When you’re doing your thing the years pass quickly. There’s talk of me having ten more fights. If so, I want them quickly. Ten fights in no longer than five years. Let’s rack ‘em up.
‘If you look back at the greats, at 35 they were told they were finished. Over the hill. Alright, I was probably a better fighter in my early 20s. Now, in my mid-30s, the fountain of youth has left me. Now I’m no spring chicken but I have the wisdom. I have to put youth to one side and use my experience and mentality.’
Fury, 35, claimed he has to rely on the experience he has gathered throughout his career if he’s to beat Usyk
Starting this Saturday night if he is to make history by becoming boxing’s first undisputed world heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis.
Ironically against a rival title holder who is a year older than himself. Albeit that Usyk is generally perceived to have taken better care of himself down the long, hard decades.
