Headline NewsPro News

Tyson Fury: I’ll retire if I don’t beat Klitschko

Heavyweight contender Tyson Fury has promised to quit boxing if he is beaten by Wladimir Klitschko on October 24.

The former Irish champion [24(18)-0] takes on WBO, WBA, and IBF champion Klitschko [64(53)-3(3)] at Duesseldorf’s ESPRIT arena next month.

After the announcement that the bout will be shown on Sky Box Office, Fury told Sky Sports News HQ that “If I can’t knock him out then I must be useless. If I can’t beat a 40-year-old man, I need banning from boxing.”

“If I can’t, then I won’t be boxing on because I won’t be able to achieve and get my goals.”

“He’s 40 years old. If I can’t knock him out then it doesn’t say a lot of me – a 27-year-old in the prime of his life. He’s been knocked out three times.”

However Fury is supremely confident that he will be victorious, explaining that “he’s been a great champion but [has] not fought anyone of note.”

“That’s where I come in to it – Every 10, 15 or 20 years there’s a man who comes along and wipes everyone out.”

“We’re in a bad era of heavyweights but I tell you what I’m looking forward to – going in there and writing this fellow off.”

“He thinks he’s perfected his style with his long reach and his jab-and-grab style but he’s never fought anyone like me. I’m a 6ft 9in man who can move and throw different shapes around the ring. He’s fought big men who can’t move and small men who are small and can’t get to him.”

Manchester-born Fury acknowledged that he feels a certain animosity towards the Ukranian, admitting that “I don’t like him, for one.”

“I don’t think he’s an ambassador and has ruined the heavyweight division.”

“People say he’s a great champion, clean-shaved, un-tattooed, great manners, very educated. So what? He’s boring and has ruined the division as far as I’m concerned.”

“He’s got as much personality as the wall I’m looking at in front of me.”

Wladimir, along with his brother Vitali, has dominated the heavyweight landscape for over a decade but Fury is unimpressed by any accolades, confessing that “I’m not too bothered if he’s got 10 brothers. If they all want to fight at the same time, I’ll fight them all. It doesn’t make a difference how many brothers he brings or what he does, he’s getting knocked out. End of.”

“I don’t value what he’s done. Who cares? It’s a man with a pair of gloves on throwing punches at me and I’m going to be throwing punches at him. It doesn’t mean anything to me what he’s achieved.”

Joe O'Neill

Reporting on Irish boxing the past five years. Work has appeared on irish-boxing.com, Boxing News, the42.ie, and local and national media. Provide live ringside updates, occasional interviews, and special features on the future of Irish boxing. email: joneill6@tcd.ie

x