Some have criticized Fury for added weight but he has trained hard for the fight and will have the gas tank needed for the rounds.
The first fight Fury came in quite light but not so this time around.
Speaking to Sky Sports Fury said:
“Tyson, great to see you. Yeah, in terms of where you’re at with this fight, how relevant is the first 12 rounds? Once the first bell rings on Saturday night, will it be a round one complete fresh start, or in a number of ways, is it round 13?
It’s always round 13 in any rematch, I suppose. Yeah, I’ve had plenty of them. Round 13 for sure. What’s more, I was coming on strong in the last round too, so it should be a good round for me first one.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I agree. I mean, do you think that he can be better? I’ve seen people in your team, like Frank Warren, sort of saying you know that was a really good Fury performance in a number of ways. They don’t think Usyk can be better. I wonder what your take on that is. Do you think he can be better in your mind, or was that the best Usyk?
I don’t want him to be the best he’s ever been. Yeah, hopefully, I get the best version of him. If there was anything wrong with him last time, I hope he’s a million percent better, and I get the best version of him on Saturday.
A lot’s been made about what your weight will be on the night. Are you heavier this time around?
About 20 stone at the moment, just over.
Okay, and what benefit do you think that will have?
More power in the punches. Do you think your best performances have come when you’re slightly heavier? People always talk about the second Wilder fight when you came in heavier.
I think so, yeah, yeah, yeah. When a 20-stone man hits you on the jaw compared to a man at 17, it’s a bit different, for sure. I’m going to beat him that bad on Saturday, he ain’t going to want a rematch. But listen, think people do a lot of stuff for the right amount of quid, don’t they? So crazy things have happened.
Just before your fight, literally right before, Luke Littler is playing in the darts, and you might think, why is that relevant? But I just wonder if there’s a parallel there. He shot to prominence as a teenager; you had the weight of the world on your shoulders as a teenager when you broke through. Just wonder if there’s one piece of advice you can give to a young sports star like that coming through, what you would say.
Show no love. Love gets killed. You know, everyone’s got a different dynamic and a different path. You just got to do what you got to do. That’s it. My advice to any sports star would be to save a few quid and invest it wisely because it’s not a long career, and there’s plenty of life after your job. If you end up broke, you’ve done it wrong. So, you need to invest your money wisely and get good people around you—get a good lawyer, a good person, good manager, a good whoever is looking after you because that’s probably the most important thing. Because I’ve known many fighters who’ve made plenty of money, and sports people, and they’ve got nothing left; they’re always down about it. And, you know, I’m not going to mention any names, but I’ve had fighters say to me, “I wish I’d have taken that fight. I wish I’d have made those extra millions.” But my answer to them was, “If you’ve already spent 40, 50, you’d have spent 70, no problem.” Do you know what I mean? So, you’ve got to be a bit clever and a bit smart, and it’s a long life after the boxing game’s finished. So yeah, or any game, darts, whatever it might be.
Do you still love boxing?
Do I still love it? Yeah, I do it every single day. It’s my life forever until I die, so yeah, I’d say so. ‘Cause there’s that saying I’ve read in Andre Ward’s book, which is like, “Boxing loves you until it doesn’t love you back, and when it doesn’t love you back, it’s time to get out.” So, I should have asked that first, like, “Do you still love it?” I mean, am I deeply in love? It’s one of the things; I’ve been away for months on end. I’ve not even spoken to my wife in over three months now, not one word, because I’m enjoying myself in my training camp, and I don’t want to go from being a husband and a dad to being in fight mode. It doesn’t have to be like that, no, but I’ve chosen that route for this fight.
So yeah, I’m just looking forward to it all and getting in there and doing what I’ve got to do. But going back on to that question, am I still in love with boxing? Heavily, because I couldn’t picture our life without me going to the gym. Forget performing under the lights, all that sort, forget the money side of it. I’m on about the actual love of going to the gym and hitting the heavy bag or hitting some pads. I just have random people, like local people in Morecambe, coming in, holding pads for me and stuff. Let’s do 12 rounds, let’s do 10 rounds. I love it. I couldn’t imagine a life where a man would not want to train. I couldn’t picture a life without training, although I had three years without training, and it was the worst three years of my whole life ever. The day I stop training is the day I get carried down the aisle to the grave. That’s it. That’s the day I stop training.
Last one, have you had this before, this sort of mentality that you’re talking about now, this almost like I don’t know, caveman warrior type, you know, keeping myself away from family for 3 months, not talking to anyone? Have you had this before, or would you say this is the first time you’ve been in this sort of mindset?
I’ve had to have had it, and I’ve conquered the world many times, so I’ve had to have had this mentality many times. But this is, it’s a good one for me. I like the challenge. You know, the last fight was a close one; he got it by a point, and that wasn’t my greatest night; that was probably one of my worst. Although, I did perform well, I thought.
Yeah, well, you said in the ring afterwards, “I boxed well.” I did box well, but I never got the result, and you know, this time, I’m very eager to do more. If he ain’t 50% better, he’s beat to a pulp, put it that way. Yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever been as confident as I am today than I am on Saturday night to do a demolition job on a cruiserweight. That’s what I’m here to do.
You would’ve got this constant pressure; we’ve got to pull that behind us; they have to do it all over again.”
Fury seems to be in a great place mentally.
As does Usyk.
Both are focused and very relaxed amid everything around them.
A good sign for a great fight — to say the least.
