11 June 2020

Tyson Fury talks ahead of Joshua mega-fight: ‘I never had a good body. I am just a happy, fat, bald guy’

WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury believes he has already ‘completed boxing’ even before he takes on Anthony Joshua for the undisputed crown next year.

‘The Gypsy King’, 31, has reached a financial agreement to fight Joshua as part of a two-fight deal providing he comes through a trilogy bout with Deontay Wilder and AJ gets past his mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev.

Fury joked about being a 'fat man' before his rematch with Wladimir Klitschko in 2016 which was eventually cancelled (PA)

And while Fury has showed he is capable of beating the best since 2015 when he defeated long-reigning champion Wladimir Klitschko, he feels now more than ever he has the mental strength to be considered the No 1.

Speaking to The Sun, he said: "Even when I was fit and doing 12 rounds, I never had a good body. I still don’t, but I was always embarrassed to take my top off in the summer. Even though I fight topless in front of millions of people, I was too embarrassed about how I looked.

"But on this comeback I decided not to care, I am not chasing a six-pack any more. I decided to be as strong as a bull, as fit as a fiddle and as wise as an owl!

"I have been going in there bald, fat and hairy and I have knocked out Adonis after Adonis. I used to worry about things that had never happened, probably never would happen.

"But now I am not embarrassed to take my top off, I am not trying to get a six-pack, I am just a happy, fat, bald guy."

Fury is undefeated in 31 professional fights, with the only blemish on his record coming against Wilder in December 2018 when they battled to a controversial draw.

Meanwhile, Joshua holds a record of 23 victories and one defeat - his only loss coming at the hands of Andy Ruiz Jr in June 2019, a result he avenged six months later in Saudi Arabia.

One of the stumbling blocks to this undisputed clash getting made could be that another British heavyweight - Dillian Whyte - is the mandatory challenger to Fury’s WBC belt.

However, Fury insists he only wants the biggest fights possible and right now it is clear that is Joshua.

Joshua and Fury are on a collision course towards the biggest fight in British boxing history (Twitter: @boxing365dotcom)

"I am about fighting the biggest fighters out there. All these challengers and mandatories are not sellable. Whether I have ten or one fight left, I want colossal fights," he added.

"And there won’t be a belt or an organisation dictating to me because no one ever has told me who I will or won’t fight. I am a proud WBC champion but I am the lineal heavyweight champion and that trumps everything.

"I have completed boxing, from English to world champion and I have them all here to prove it but belts are just pieces of leather and jewels. When you have been ruling it for so long and beating everyone, like I have, you can have a belt that just says ‘dog s***’ on it — but I’m still the champion."

Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed on Wednesday that the first fight between AJ and Fury would take place in 2021.

It has not yet been established where the bout would take place, but it is widely understood that it makes more money if staged outside of the UK.

The best videos delivered daily

Watch the stories that matter, right from your inbox