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"Why walk away when I'm still only young?" | Tyson Fury plans to dominate

Tyson Fury says he wants to dominate the heavyweight division for the next decade as he plans to sta...
Phil Egan
Phil Egan

11:08 AM - 19 May 2020



Sport

"Why walk away when I'm still only young?" | Tyson Fury plans to dominate

Phil Egan
Phil Egan

11:08 AM - 19 May 2020



Tyson Fury says he wants to dominate the heavyweight division for the next decade as he plans to stay at the top until he retires.

The 31-year-old became WBC champion in February when he stopped Deontay Wilder, five years after his win over Wladimir Klitschko.

Fury spent almost three years out of the ring after that win over Klitschko in 2015 and it looked like he would never challenge at the top again due to mental health issues and extreme weight gain.

However, Fury says his mental health has benefited from his continued dedication to the sport and he sees no reason to stop boxing.

Fury told Sky Sports: "I've achieved more than any active heavyweight alive today. No-one can come close to what I've achieved. I'm happy with where I am in my career and what I'm doing.

"If I never have another boxing fight, I'll be happy. I've completed the game. I've won every single belt in boxing. From the English title to becoming the undisputed heavyweight champ of the world. All done, all finished.

"Considered the best, done. If I don't box again, I'm happy, but if I do box again, then I continue to box. If we get past this thing, which hopefully we will, then we're going to keep boxing and just keep taking on contenders."

After his first fight with Wilder, Fury signed a five-fight contract with ESPN and Top Rank worth $100 million so he doesn't have to worry about his finances but he says it's not about money.

"Nothing to prove to anybody. Not one thing to prove at all, but I box now, because I love boxing and I've been doing it all my life. Why walk away when I'm still only young?

"Hopefully I box until I have a good sit down with all the team and we all decide it's time to walk away, while I'm on top, and then sail away into the sunset, and then who knows what will happen after that."

Fury was scheduled to take on Wilder for third time in July but that has been put on hold due to the coronavirus. He says when the fight does eventually happen, he is looking forward to silencing any doubters.

"They said I'd never do it, they said I would never have the dedication.

"Then they wrote me off because I wasn't body beautiful like everybody else, then they wrote me off because the heavyweight champion of the world was Wladimir Klitschko.

"I had to go to Germany, that was a write-off, and then they wrote me off because I went to 28 stone and had mental health problems, but that couldn't keep me down.

"Then they wrote me off because I had to fight the biggest puncher in the history of boxing after only two, petty comeback fights, but that didn't keep me down.

"Then they wrote me off, because I'm all washed up and I can't take a punch anymore, and then they wrote me off because I got a massive cut. Then they wrote me off because I had 10 changes of trainers.

"Then they wrote me off because Wilder was going to be better the second time around, and then they wrote me off because they said they didn't believe in what I was going to do and I'm a feather-duster puncher, and I can't crack an egg, and I'm useless.

"But here I am today, stand-alone heavyweight, leading superstar in boxing. I'm still fat, still ugly, still bald, still a big man, and I'm still unstoppable."

The other fight out there for Fury is an all-British heavyweight showdown with the current WBA, WBO and IBF champion Anthony Joshua.

Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn said: "It would probably be a two-fight deal, any deal between Fury and AJ, you run it twice.

"It is not a condition of the deal but it was in their deal with Deontay Wilder, and it is the biggest fight in boxing, so it is likely you will see that twice."

 



Read more about

Anthony Joshua Boxing Deontay Wilder Eddie Hearn Sky Sports Tyson Fury

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