Tyson Fury has made it clear that there’s a new school in heavyweight boxing, and he doesn’t have to prove anything by fighting them.
In a recent interview with True Geordie to discuss his upcoming trilogy fight with Derek Chisora, Fury was asked about being compared to the greats like Muhammed Ali and Lennox Lewis. However, the interviewer took issue with the real possibility that ‘The Gypsy King’ may not face every contender in the division before hanging up the gloves.
Fury responded, claiming that there was only one man left who belonged to his generation of heavyweights.
“There’s only Joshua left in my era. That’s it – and you couldn’t make him fight me if you were gonna give him 50 million quid.”
“Usyk and Joyce are not my era. They come from a different era. They were still changing nappies when I was a champion. I was World Heavyweight Champion while they were boxing for a plastic cup, so they come from a different era.”
Fury has attempted to make a fight with Anthony Joshua, with negotiations falling through last month and leading to the announcement of the Chisora fight. Why talks broke down depends on who in the sport you ask.
‘The Gypsy King made his professional debut in 2008, followed by Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk in 2013, and Joe Joyce in 2017. In response to fighting the likes of Usyk and Joyce despite his thoughts and to add to a resume that already includes dethroning champions Wladimir Klitschko in Germany and Deontay Wilder in America, Fury said he didn’t care about legacy-making.
“One thing that you underestimate, my friend, is that I don’t give one damn about legacy … I don’t talk about that at all, because when I’m finished from boxing, do you know what I don’t care about? What people think about me, or how many belts I won, or what fights didn’t happen.”
Having said all of that, it’s widely expected that Fury will face Usyk early next year to crown an undisputed champion for the first time since one of the greats mentioned, Lennox Lewis.