THE CHALLENGER WHO STILL BELIEVES HE’S CHAMPION
The Ring: You’ve been the king of pre-fight psychology for years now. You had Klitschko and Wilder eating out of your hand. How hard have you found it to get inside Usyk’s head? Tyson Fury: I’m not Professor X. It’s not a thing where I try to get in someone’s mind. If they’re weak enough to think I’m Professor X, then let them think it. I treat all of these fights the same. I’m not any different from any other press conference, am I? The Ring: Apart from when you dressed up like Batman. Fury: I mean in the way I act at press
against [Deontay] Wilder, got back up and got back to my boxing. Just because you get a knockdown round doesn’t automatically mean you win the fight. Even though I landed five times the amount of punches [Usyk] did in Round 8, he caught me with a good shot on the nose right at the end of the round. I’ll give him Round 9 as a 10-8 round because I got caught, and I’ll give him Round 10 because I was recovering. I won 11 and 12 as well. For me, I give him eight, nine and 10, and he could have won the first round, but that’s it. I’ve even tried to be biased towards him by giving him rounds that he maybe didn’t win and I still don’t see it. It is what it is. Yesterday
over and over, and I still don’t believe I lost that fight. If you want to use your imagination and be really, really, really shitty towards me, you could have given me a draw, but there’s no way he beat me that night. I know he’s got the victory over me, but that’s for reasons other than the boxing.” The Ring: What are the other reasons? Fury: There’s a lot of reasons. There’s some political reasons; it’s not just boxing. I knew going into this fight that it was more than just a boxing fight. But, on the other hand, the rewards
conferences. I’m the same as I was years ago when I wasn’t even into double digits in fights. I’ve been similar in confidence and in performing. The Ring: Even though Usyk is a rival, there seems to be authentic respect between you. Is that the case, or do you need to dislike him to do your job in the ring? Fury: I don’t know him as a person. I’ve bumped into him, I think, three times in my life. And seeing him at a
don’t matter and tomorrow is a mystery, so we’ll see what today brings us. The Ring: Round 6 was huge for you and that was as bad as I’ve ever seen Usyk hurt. What were your thoughts when you watched that round back? Do you have any regrets about not going through a second phase of attack and trying to get him out?
Fury: I hit him with two big uppercuts in a row and he didn’t fall over. Was I to empty my tank when he wasn’t ready to go? If he was ready to go in Round 6, I’d have got him out of there, wouldn’t I? He wasn’t ready to go, and I was having that much of my own way that I wasn’t in a rush. It was one-sided. From Round 2 to Round 7, it wasn’t even a contest. I was playing, I had my hands behind my back. I was having fun in there. I don’t know if it looked like that from the outside, but it definitely felt like that from the inside. The Ring: I thought you showed tactical superiority from Rounds 3 through 7. Fury: Of course … If I’d have thought that I was behind in that fight, I’d have went for a fuckin’ knockout in Rounds
outweighed the risk. If they say to me, “Fight the top 50 heavyweights in the world, one after the other, for X-Y-Z amount of money,” what do you think I’m going to say? Line them up! If the risk outweighs the reward, then no one is going to do it. But if the reward outweighs the risk, most people are going to do it. The Ring: The reason I asked you about the movement is we’ve seen Usyk drain opponents by forcing them to work harder than they want to work – plenty of feints, in and out, quick feet, constant pressure. Did he tire you out? Fury: He didn’t tire me out. I just got caught, mate. That’s what happens in boxing. Getting caught in one round, getting a 10-8 round, don’t win you a fuckin’ fight. I’ve been down twice in Round 4
boxing event isn’t knowing him. That’s only what he wants you to know, or the public to know. I don’t know him as a person. He seems OK, but I don’t know him like, “Hiya mate, let’s go for a beer.” The Ring: In the first fight, your jab was excellent, but I was surprised that you moved as much as you did early. Was that the game plan? Fury: I was just using my boxing ability. I was using my jab, setting him up for head and body shots, and I didn’t find him hard to hit. I was expecting this wizard or matrix in front of me, and it wasn’t that way at all. For most of that fight, I felt like it was some lad in the gym that I was having a move around with. It seems silly, because on paper he has a victory over me, but it wasn’t one of my hardest fights. I’ve watched it a thousand times,
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