Tyson Fury has revealed how his father John begged him not to fight Deontay Wilder back in 2018, and threatened never to speak to him again if he did.
John Fury felt his son was not ready for the challenge of facing the then-undefeated ‘Bronze Bomber’ just months into his amazing comeback from the brink of boxing oblivion.
Tyson had contemplated suicide and ballooned to 400lbs during that three-year absence from the ring after winning the world heavyweight title by beating Wladimir Klitschko in Germany in 2015.
He returned in the summer of 2018, but after only two easy comeback fights and losing a massive amount of weight in a short space of time, John just didn’t believe his son was ready yet for the challenge presented by concussive WBC king Wilder.
In a speech shared by Tyson on Twitter, John said: “He (Tyson) said ‘you know what Dad, these two (Joshua and Wilder) are gonna to and fro all day long, I’m gonna step up to the plate and I’ll fight Wilder’.
The words me and my Dad spoke before the first @BronzeBomber fight#wearespartans pic.twitter.com/xnNC3WtLIo
— TYSON FURY (@Tyson_Fury) August 27, 2020
“I said ‘If you do that I’ll never speak to you as long as I live ‘cos you will get hurt. You’ve just lost 10 stone in as many months, you’re not ring-fit at all son’, I said ‘leave it, you’ve had a couple of warm-up fights, you’re not there yet, your strength ain’t there. You can’t knock an hole in a wet paper bag. Where’s your sense?’
“He said ‘Dad, I’m a fighting man, if I get beat, I get beat. I’m gonna do what Joshua’s frightened to do, step in the ring. If he beats me, he beats me, the best man will win’.”
Tyson of course did take the fight, with even his then-trainer Ben Davison admitting he was unsure about whether ‘The Gypsy King’ was ready yet to last 12 rounds at the pace required for championship level.
But Fury produced a super boxing display which many thought earned him a win despite being knocked down twice. And of course he somehow managed to get off the floor in the final round after that second knockdown to hear the final bell
“And it went from there, the ring is history. It was the best comeback of all time,” Fury Sr added.
“Who gets up in the 12th round like that? He was out, cold out, divine intervention I tell you.”
The rematch between Fury and Wilder of course was nothing like that first meeting, with Fury on the front foot from the start as he demolished the American with a seventh-round TKO to take his WBC title and his unbeaten record.
The pair are now due to meet in their third fight later this year – with Saturday December 19 currently the planned date.
And Fury knows that if he wins there, and Joshua overcomes IBF mandatory Kubrat Pulev (also in December), a huge unification match between the two British world champions is likely to take place next summer.
