Boxer Tyson Fury will be back in June to liven up the heavyweight ranks; announces next opponent
The former undisputed world champion will face Albania’s Sefer Seferia in his June 9 comeback fight
“Me against him will be the biggest fight ever, the Achilles and Hector of today,” Fury said Sunday. Joshua won two of his titles in his own defeat of Klitschko in 2016, after Fury vacated them in the wake of failed drug tests and reports of battles with personal issues.
“In November 2015, I became the best heavyweight fighter in my era at the time,” Fury said last month, referring to his defeat of Klitschko. “That was the end of it for me. It took over two and a half years to get that fire back. I didn’t think it was coming.
“I thought, ‘What is going on?’ Every time I went to the pub and had 10 pints, I thought ‘Yeah, I want to fight tonight.’ But in hindsight, I needed to get out of that environment, get away from all that, get my head back and get focused.”
“I can’t wait to get in there and prove that I’m a better fighter than I’ve ever been,” said Fury. “I’m coming into the prime of my career now and I’ve never felt better. I’m fitter, stronger and faster than the Fury of 2015.”
That’s a far cry from where Fury was a year ago, when, by his own estimate, he was about 45 kilograms heavier than his fighting weight of 115kg. He was also depressed about his fall from grace and, in the midst of a two-year doping ban, all but retired.
Then, Fury said in April, he heard that WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder had claimed he was “done,” and that sparked an unsparing self-appraisal. “I thought, ‘You know what, I’m a fat pig. Look at the state of me,’” Fury said. “I felt like jumping in the water and drowning.”
Fury and his camp are understandably pointing him toward a mega-bout with Joshua, his countryman who is widely considered the top heavyweight in the world. A showdown with Wilder, though, would also be hugely appealing to boxing fans, as long as Fury holds up his end of the bargain by returning to form.
“I can tie one hand behind my back and beat Wilder,” Fury said last month. “They can pick which one they want; left hand, right hand.”
It’s already apparent that the gregarious Fury has lost none of his penchant for bravado, which can only be a good thing for his sport and for the heavyweight division in particular, given that it is still regarded as boxing’s most glamorous stratum but has long ceded much of the spotlight to fighters in lower weight classes.
“Boxing never meant much to me before,” Fury said on Sunday. “It was strictly business – but this time it will be fun for me and entertainment for everyone.”