Whether you love him or hate him, you have to give Tyson Fury credit for his incredible return to boxing.
Having ballooned up to 27 stone, Fury is now back to his previous fight weight and is going to challenge for the WBC heavyweight title before the year is out.
The undefeated Brit made it 27-0 with his unanimous decision victory over Francesco Pianeta in Windsor Park this weekend and he squared off with WBC king Deontay Wilder in the ring after the bout.
With a date and location set to be confirmed in the coming weeks, Fury has revealed that he intends to drop even more weight ahead of his monster clash with the unbeaten ‘Bronze Bomber’
“I was 18st 6lbs there. Wilder will probably weigh about 15 or 15-and-a-half. I’m going to try to get myself down to 18st, nice and light so I can move and slip and slide and be very awkward” Fury said at the post-fight press conference.
“It’s alright having massive, massive power but if you can’t land it, you’ve lost.
“Wladimir Klitschko had massive power – ‘Dr. Steelhammer’. He had one of the biggest punching right hands in the history of boxing and he did land it but not effectively and not cleanly because I’m always riding the shots.
“It’s very hard to land cleanly on me nowadays. I have been over twice before, by [Neven] Pakjic and [Steve] Cunningham, but I’m a different fighter now. I don’t walk square on, I don’t rush, I take my time. Cool, calm, collected and calculated, thinking about my job.
“I’m very awkward to land on and I’ll give Wilder his credit but I’ve not got a glass chin. I can take punches and I’ll be there to fight. I’m not going to be there to play games.
“I’m going to make him miss and make him pay. I think his style is tailor-made for mine with his big, awkward, wild swings and I believe that I’m a better boxer than him, technically.”
Fury was full of praise for trainer Ben Davison in the wake of his latest win, which he intentionally dragged out in order to get rounds under his belt.
Having turned his life around, ‘The Gypsy King’ now feels that everything is in place to get that elusive green WBC strap around his waist.
“Who’d have thought that you could take a 27st man and lose nearly 9st in nine months and have two combat fights and just box to a plan over 10 rounds?” Fury added.
“I’ve got a great team around me. I’ve got a great lawyer, a great promoter, a great strength-and-conditioning guy, a great nutritionist, a great trainer, great family support.
“We’re going all the way to the top and nothing can stop us. Nothing’s going to stop me from winning my titles back.”
