Before Tyson Fury wasted a lot of time trying to get a fight against David Haye, he was ranked high by the WBC and within position to compete for the WBC heavyweight title. But with two fights against Haye falling through, Fury now finds himself having been dropped to No.8 by the World Boxing Council, and he’s nowhere near getting a crack at that belt. Needless to say, Fury’s not happy about it and he complained at length about it on Buncey’s Boxing Podcast this week.
Here’s some of what Fury said:
“There was three people eligible to fight for the vacant WBC title. One of them was me because I beat Kevin Johnson in a WBC eliminator. Another one was Bermane Stiverne because he beat Chris Arreola in an eliminator.
Unbeaten British giant Tyson Fury is ready to put a largely frustrating and unproductive 2013 behind him and enjoy a “big” 2014. Fury, who last fought in April of 2013 (getting up from an early knockdown to halt Steve Cunningham in New York) saw long months of his upwardly mobile career go down the drain due to his British super-fight with David Haye falling apart not once but twice.
Recently British heavyweight Tyson Fury (21-0, 15 KO’s) had been telling anyone that cared to listen to him that he wanted to fight Golden Boy fighter Deontay Wilder (30-0, 30 KO’s), but shortly after Deontay expressed interest in facing him too, Fury said he was retiring from boxing. 
British heavyweight Tyson Fury (21-0, 15 KO’s) hasn’t had much luck in getting a heavyweight title shot against the Klitschko brothers. Fury is asking Wladimir to give him a heavyweight title shot straightaway without him having to fight for the shot in an eliminator.
It was in January of 2013 that I first met the Fury family. I’d just beaten the snow out of the UK by twelve hours and was sitting in a freezing Dutch ferry terminal waiting for a lift from Peter Fury – a man I’d never met – to spend a week in the famous Fury training camp in Belgium. The Ferry ride had been tortuous; high seas and an even higher crew had meant a sleepless night and much paranoia. I was the first writer or journalist to ever set foot in the remote Fury HQ. It was a land few had even considered. Rumours of the harshness of the camp had reached my ears, but there was little in the way of facts. I had to see for myself, for good or ill. Two and a half months later, Tyson Fury would bamboozle the American press, beat Steve Cunningham without Peter in his corner, and sing to a bemused Madison Square Garden crowd. I wasn’t to blame.
If the road to the top in any sport is beset with challenges and hard physical graft, then boxing must rank amongst the toughest. But despite the obstacles to greatness, boxing continues to make people rich and famous, just as surely as it leaves most fighters with questionable futures. In general terms, boxing is the oldest and most maligned sport in the world today, but that doesn’t stop the support, and it certainly doesn’t stop the money. Most eyes used to be on the Heavyweights – the blue ribbon event – but a continued dominance since the Klitschko brothers gained the titles in…erm… 1694, has brought attention to the other weights, culminating in the Mayweather deal; which still beggars belief in most third world countries and gives promoters across the USA cold sweats on dark nights. Floyd is a boxing freak though, a supreme talent, and a fighter like him only comes along once every 25 years. We owe it to ourselves to make the best of the time he’s giving us in the ring. But, like the saying goes “Make hay while the sun shines” and that sun is dipping low on Floyd no matter how hard we want to tell ourselves it’s not true. 
Tyson, I know you are frustrated with the whole Haye situation. You are a top heavyweight with top people behind you. You want to fight the best and have always stepped up to the plate. Forget retirement. You have a long and bright future in front of you.
Remember when, after his awesome KO win over Michael Spinks, an upset Mike Tyson told the media at the post-fight press conference that he may well have fought his last fight and was retiring due to his general disgust at the way the media types had treated him? Of course Tyson never meant it, even if he was angry at the time.