The Furys are a fighting family, but there’s another thing they all have in common. They don’t like Deontay Wilder. Not one bit.
On Saturday night in Las Vegas, the American will seek revenge against Tyson and to reclaim his WBC world title belt that he lost in such devastating fashion last February. But the Bronze Bomber remains confident and has chillingly claimed the Gypsy King’s ‘life depends’ on how well he has prepared for their trilogy.
Safe to say Fury’s father John is not impressed with his comments, which have included claims that the British star cheated to earn a stoppage in their last fight – with accusations he put an egg weight inside his glove to inflict more damage.
‘Whatever he says, I would not take it seriously,’ he tells Sportsmail. ‘The man disgusts me, repulses me, because he’s not a man. I don’t like him at all. I’m not interested in what he’s got to say.
‘He’s a big kid. I don’t listen to big kids, I listen to real proper men who talk sense. He’s a man in theory. [This fight] is like you coming to fight me with a water pistol and I’ve got a shotgun! I’m going to win because I’ve got the shotgun and that’s where Tyson and Wilder is. He definitely won’t hit Tyson unless he starts with 40 winks on the job.’
John Fury, the father of Tyson, is predicting an ‘explosive’ win over Deontay Wilder on Saturday
Fury Snr is not a fan of the American after taunts and cheating claims aimed at his son (left)
His 33-year-old son is full of belief too, but it hasn’t been a straightforward camp for the unbeaten heavyweight. This fight was supposed to take place on July 24 before it was postponed after Fury tested positive for Covid-19, and just a month later his newborn baby Athena was taken into intensive care with breathing difficulties.
Thankfully she has pulled through, allowing Tyson to focus on the task at hand, but despite the string of complications, Fury Snr – who exchanged verbal blows with Wilder before Fury’s first fight with him in 2018 – believes he has enjoyed his ‘best camp’ to date and thinks fans will see an ‘explosive’ victory.
‘Nothing has affected Tyson,’ he added. ‘He takes things in his stride. He got Covid and he’s dealt with it. His daughter was ill, he’s dealt with that – now the light switch has turned on to a fighting monster who has trained to retain his belt in an explosive fashion. I have no doubt in my mind he will put on a spectacular show on Saturday.
‘It’s going to be the best he’s ever fought. He’s had the best camp he’s ever had. He’s knuckled down, he’s done everything right, I can’t see a problem.’
He called Wilder a ‘big kid’ and a ‘man in theory’ and feels Tyson will win the fight comfortably
He said Tyson had enjoyed his ‘best camp’ ever despite being dealt a host of setbacks
Indeed, if this turns out anything like last time it won’t be a pretty sight for Wilder. The fight was stopped inside seven rounds after a dominant display from Fury forced the American’s trainer Mark Breland to throw in the towel.
The Bronze Bomber – a proud fighting man – reacted with anger at the decision and has since sacked Breland, insisting he would have carried on. But Fury Snr feels the heavyweight owes Breland an apology after ‘saving his life’ because Tyson was ‘going for the kill’.
Fury stopped Wilder inside seven rounds last time out, with his corner throwing in the towel
John believes his son was ‘going for the kill’ and could have ‘outed’ Wilder in the ring
‘Sometimes, I fear for the other opponent,’ he added. ‘I do think that if it wasn’t for Mark Breland, Deontay Wilder wouldn’t be in this ring today because he would have been too badly damaged. Tyson was going for the kill. I know my children, he had that death wish in his eye.
‘He wanted to out him proper and Mark Breland saved his life. He should say to Mark Breland: “I apologise Mark, thank you for saving my life against that fighting monster.”
‘If he knew what he was getting on Saturday night, he wouldn’t be there, he’d run and hide himself in Tuscaloosa somewhere and never be seen again, because believe me he’s in a lot of trouble.’
The entire boxing community was gripped with anticipation that Tyson Fury could finally go toe-to-toe with British rival Anthony Joshua this summer. A bout in Saudi Arabia was all but agreed before a court arbitration ruled Wilder had the right to a third fight with the Gypsy King.
With it went a lucrative bout that would have landed each fighter a £100million payday, and that now looks a distant memory after Joshua lost his world titles to former cruiserweight king Oleksandr Usyk, his mandatory challenger.
Fury was in line to fight Anthony Joshua this year before a court ruling forced him to face Wilder, and now the £200m contest looks a distant memory after AJ lost to Oleksandr Usyk
Joshua labelled Tyson a ‘fraud’ for failing to secure the highly-anticipated contest and slamming his team for not dealing with Wilder’s challenge earlier – but John defended his son and claimed there was ‘skulduggery’ at play. He even suggested there would be a ‘stacked deck’ when Fury comes up against Wilder in Las Vegas.
‘There was no mention of it until the 11th hour,’ he continued. ‘The minute Eddie Hearn said it was going to be in Saudi in August, the judge brought Wilder back into play and I’ve always thought from that moment – “skulduggery”.
‘We’re used to that kind of thing, we know when we go to America on Saturday night, we’re going to get a stacked deck. We’re prepared to deal with a stacked deck, we’ve trained for a stacked deck. We know you’ve got to knock ’em out to get a draw.
John claimed ‘skulduggery’ was at play to scupper the Joshua fight at the final hurdle
‘There’s skulduggery involved because the AJ fight was on and I can’t get my head around why they wanted a lesser fight than the biggest fight in boxing history and now the horse has bolted.
‘It’s all political garbage! But we can come through all this because we’re trained to come from behind and win and move every goalpost that needs to be moved and still come out the winners.’
Should Tyson make his way past Wilder on Saturday, he faces the very real prospect of having to see off Usyk in the next year. Joshua will go up against the Ukrainian for a second time in February for a shot at redemption but after being outclassed at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last month, he is not being given much of a chance.
He believes Fury would have too much intelligence for Usyk should the pair fight each other
Fury Snr backed Joshua to win his rematch, but urged him to become a ‘trench warfare warrior’
John still thinks Joshua can win his rematch to keep his fight with Tyson alive – if the Watford-born star uses his considerable power and transforms himself into a ‘trench warfare warrior’ instead of boxing’s ‘poster boy’.
‘Absolutely [he can win] if he makes the right adjustments in and out of the ring, gets his mental state right, believes in himself 100 per cent, uses his size and his power,’ Fury Snr said.
‘Take him into a dog fight, train to fight in the trenches – not to look good, not to be a poster boy. Turn yourself into a trench warfare warrior. Unless he’s prepared to do that, retire tomorrow because he’ll be in the same situation because all the other guys are too good for him in ability.
‘On last weekend’s performance, Tyson would have stopped him in three rounds, smashed him to pieces. He’d have done a lot better job than Usyk because he’s bigger and more powerful and his will to win is the same as Usyk’s.’
Fury will make his first defence of the WBC world title on Saturday and his father John believes he is currently ‘untouchable’ by any of his big-name rivals in the heavyweight division
So, how would Tyson take on the colossal challenge of beating the skilled fighter that is Usyk should they get in the ring?
‘Tyson is a fighting machine, he’s got a million ways to fight. He can adjust to any man’s style. I’ve seen Usyk. Yes, he’s brilliant. His team’s brilliant, but can he beat Tyson Fury? No, he can’t – course he can’t and he knows he can’t.
‘Usyk goes to bed now knowing those belts are borrowed to him because the Gypsy King’s still out there. Do I think Usyk stands a chance? No, Tyson is too far advanced, he’s too intelligent. There’s no one out there who can touch Tyson at the minute.’
Untouchable? Joshua lost his claim as British boxing’s golden goose last month, now it’s Fury’s turn to show he is still the greatest heavyweight after more than 18 months out of the ring. On Saturday night we will find out.
BT Sport Box Office will show Fury v Wilder: The Trilogy exclusively live in the UK on Saturday 9th October. For more info go to www.bt.com/sportboxoffice