Tyson Fury on how he’ll fight Oleksandr Usyk in rematch – and feeling ‘down’ over Anthony Joshua’s defeat
Tyson Fury insists he felt no disappointment at all when he lost the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world to Oleksandr Usyk in May.
But he was sad as he watched Anthony Joshua being crushed by Daniel Dubois last month.
“I feel sorry for him at the minute, being cleaned out in the last fight in five rounds, so he’ll have to do that again – or not – and then decide his future. I’ve said after every [Anthony Joshua] loss I’ve felt deflated.
“When an adversary loses, and it’s not to you, you do feel down and depressed about it. I felt sad for him. It was sad to see a worthy opponent lose his crown.”
But Fury versus Joshua is a super fight that British boxing fans would like to see, before it’s too late, and Fury says he’s up for it.
Anthony Joshua after being knocked down by Daniel Dubois in September. Pic: Reuters
“I’d still fight him whether he’s got five losses, 10 losses or 20. It’s not important because, at this stage of our careers, it’s about having good fights. I think it would still be an interesting fight for the paying pundit.”
Fury says that when he faces Usyk for the second time on 21 December in Riyadh for three of the four belts, he is changing nothing except the result.
‘B******s that comes with boxing’
“I do exactly the same thing, but don’t get a standing count in round nine and I’ve won the fight comfortably. Yeah, I’m gonna change not getting a knockdown.”
Fury jokes that it feels horrible to be the challenger and not the champion. “It’s really not important to me honestly. All the glitz and glamour… it’s all the b******s that comes with boxing. I’m here to do a job, get a pay cheque and go home.”
For this second fight, the element of surprise on either side has gone. They both have a fairly good idea of what the other can do. But was he impressed with how hard Usyk came back at him in that first meeting?
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Usyk triumphed over Tyson Fury in May
‘He’s gonna have to pay’
“I wasn’t impressed because he’s a boxer and that’s what he’s paid to do. He did his job and got a very small razor edge win, but as I’ve always said… winning by an inch or a mile is still winning.”
“He actually put the rematch back, I was really looking forward to having a good build-up to Halloween, bonfire night, Christmas and New Year. But he’s f***** all that up for me, so now I’ll only get three days of Christmas. He’s gonna have to pay for that!”
Fury talks money, and buying socks, with Jacquie Beltrao
Fury is already thinking of what happens next and it’s not a fight with Dubois, the new IBF champion, or Joshua. Instead he’d prefer another head-to-head with the Ukrainian.
Despite claiming he’s not bothered by history, the titles, or anything much outside the actual boxing, another fight with Usyk would have significance. It would give him a unique place in the history of the sport.
“I’d rather have a trilogy with Usyk, and then it would be 1-1, and I’d be the only heavyweight in history to have three trilogies. That would be quite impressive.”
The emergence of Saudi Arabia as a boxing world capital in the last few years has changed the landscape of the sport. The money on offer far exceeds what they’d normally expect to get in the UK.
Money is a ‘turn-on’
Fury doesn’t need the money and barely spends it. But he admits it gives him a thrill. “It’s just the excitement of earning it, it’s a turn-on. But when you’ve got it, it’s like ‘aaahhhh’… on to the next one now.
“I didn’t need an Usyk fight to go and buy what I want. I could do that at any given moment in the last 10 years. I’ve not bought one thing not even a pair of trainers, nothing. They were free… I did recently buy myself some new socks, only because they were on offer!”
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So Fury doesn’t need the money, the kudos of the victory, the hoopla around the sport. He would have us believe that none of it matters.
So why at 36, does he still do it?
“I love it. I love the thrill of the fight. I love the boxing, I like the training, it keeps me fit and out of trouble and on a straight and narrow path.”
Usyk vs Fury 2 is on Sky Sports Box Office on December 21.
The crash involving a cargo ship and oil tanker off the East Yorkshire coast is bad news for the sea, fish and air in the area. What we don’t know yet is quite how bad it will be.
That depends on a few things – but the speed of the collision, clouds of filthy black smoke from the fires and the leaked fuel are certainly worrying.
Firstly, it matters what was on board those two massive vessels.
Follow live: Jet fuel spilling into sea after tanker collision
Analytics firm Vortexa estimates the 183m-long tanker was carrying about 130,000 barrels of jet fuel (kerosene), which is now leaking into the sea.
Jet fuel is not as sticky or viscous as heavier types of oil, thankfully, so it’s less likely to clog the feathers and fur of birds and seals. It can also be broken down by natural bacteria.
But it can still poison fish and kill animals and plants on the shoreline if it makes its way into the soil there.
The Marine Conservation Society has pointed out the site in the Humber estuary is close to some protected areas and is important for seabirds and harbour porpoises.
And both ships will have been powered by a dirtier, heavier kind of oil – likely marine gas oil or heavy fuel oil, though we don’t know the details yet.
Heavy fuel oil is nasty stuff.
Pic: Bartek Smialek/PA
Cheap, thick and tar-like, it can smother animals and is very dangerous if they consume it, and is extremely difficult to clean up. Let’s hope this isn’t creeping around the North Sea already.
We don’t know how much of either the jet fuel or the oil powering the ships has leaked, or how much will be burned off in the violent fires – which themselves are ploughing black smoke and filthy air pollution into the surrounding atmosphere.
And we don’t know for sure what was on the Solong cargo ship and if, or what, will go into the sea.
Cargo ship ‘had sodium cyanide on board’
It was carrying 15 containers of sodium cyanide among other cargo, according to a report from maritime data provider Lloyd’s List Intelligence.
The container vessel was also transporting an unknown quantity of alcohol, said the casualty report – an assessment of incidents at sea – citing a message from the local coastguard.
Plastic takes hundreds of years to break down, and potentially can choke or trap animals.
Many of us have seen that uncomfortable viral video of a turtle having a straw yanked out of its nose. Previous accidents on cargo ships have seen plastic Lego pieces wash up in Cornwall 25 years later.
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Secondly, the impact depends on the sea and weather conditions around it.
Things like the wind and currents affect how an oil spill spreads in the sea. Scientists can draw up computer models to simulate how the oil could behave.
Thirdly, it matters how quickly this is all tackled and then cleaned up, if necessary, and if it can be.
Usually the slower the response, the worse the impact.
The coastguard has said the incident “remains ongoing” and it has started assessing the “likely counter pollution response” that will be required.
Such a response might need the help of numerous public bodies: the government environment department, the transport department, the Environment Agency and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
So for now the best we can hope for – aside from the welfare of the people involved – is that not all the oil is spilled or burnt, that conditions are calm and that rescuers and those cleaning up can work swiftly.
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