TYSON FURY will not look back and reflect at his bulldozing ride through the heavyweight division until he is a “fat, bald-headed b******.”
Almost exactly seven years ago he drove over to Germany to dethrone decade-long champ Wladimir Klitschko of his WBA, IBF and WBO titles, in his adopted backyard.
In 2018, after a doping-ban hiatus where he battled mental health problems, obesity and drug addiction, he flew to America with minimal preparation and was cruelly handed a Deontay Wilder draw, instead of the WBC crown he deserved.
Since then he has obliterated the Bronze Bomber twice to grab the green and gold belt and KO’d Dillian Whyte in front of a record 94,000 fans at Wembley stadium.
Right now it is all in a day’s work for the 34-year-old Gypsy King but, long after tonight’s Derek Chisora defence, he may reminisce on the era he wreaked havoc on, inside and outside the ring.
Fury said: “I don’t reflect, zero reflection. When you’re in the driving seat, you don’t look at who’s behind you, you just keep going forward, flat out at a frantic pace.
“Reflection time will come when it’s all done and then in 20 years’ time, I’ll go ‘wow, I was a champion, now look at me, I’m a fat bald-headed b******’.
“I have taken this career seriously from the age of 29. Before that it was a joke. It was just a play thing, it was something I was just good at, something I didn’t train for.
“I’d just turn up at 25 stone, go and lose five stone and go and beat Klitschko.
“When I boxed Wladimir seven years ago I came into camp just under 25 stone and got down to 18 stone in eight weeks. I’m not lying.
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“Me and my brother Shane were out drinking vodka and going round a field in a four-wheel drive eight weeks before that fight.
“Then I lost weight and gave him a boxing lesson. It’s something I’ve always been able to do.
“Now as a man, a very experienced man at 34, I have to be smarter. I’m not the same Tyson Fury.”
Fury remains a contradiction, this year alone he has released his third autobiography, sung on another record and starred in a Netflix reality TV show about his family.
But he bemoans the fact his incredible boxing success and showmanship have cost him his privacy.
Two hands are needed to count his retirement announcements now — the most recent after his April Whyte win — and he has vowed to have three serious fights in 2023 as well as 12 glorified spars around the world against ‘bums of the month’.
Even his dad and former fighter John has noticed his boy seems addicted to the buzz of fame and notoriety.
Tyson said: “Being a warrior is very difficult. It is unlike any other life. To be a businessman or anything else is very different to being a frontline battleman.
Fury vs Chisora 3: Date, live stream and TV info for huge heavyweight bout
“My dad made a good comment when he said I have become like Frankenstein’s monster because I can only really come alive with the electricity of a major event.
“When I am not doing that I am like a zombie, a dead man walking and it is very difficult to shift.
“I was filming a Netflix documentary, writing my third book and releasing a single, I had a lot going on but when I retired it hit me that it was over and for a week I was very low, suicidal. I knew I had to come back.
“As long as I have the focus of being a fighter and a champion I will be okay.”
A third win over Chisora, 38, tonight, in front of ringside WBA, IBF and WBO champ Oleksandr Usyk, who has flown in from Ukraine, will set-up a spring undisputed showdown between the pair.
Usyk, 35, was the London 2012 Olympic heavyweight champion and the undisputed cruiserweight king before stepping up to stun Anthony Joshua twice.
But Fury dismisses all of his achievements and insists he is boxing’s supreme ruler with more belts and box-office events than Usyk has underwear.
The Gypsy King added: “Every heavyweight wants what I have and he’s the same. He’s had 20 fights, I have had a lot more.
“I have more knockout wins than him, I have won more belts than he has pants in his cupboard.
“I have been in more major events than he has pairs of socks.
“The emperor does not concern himself with peasants. They have to come to my table, to my feast.”
