by Geoffrey Ciani (Exclusive Interview by Jenna J & Geoffrey Ciani) – This week’s 135th edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio (brought to you by CWH Promotions) featured an exclusive interview with the newly crowned British and Commonwealth Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury (15-0, 10 KOs) who is coming off an impressive upset victory against Dereck Chisora (14-1, 9 KOs). Fury spoke about his big win and also talked about his future and provided some opinions on the current boxing landscape. Here are some questions and answers from that interview:
JENNA J: You’re coming off a very impressive performance this past weekend against Dereck Chisora. You said on our last interview if you couldn’t beat him you were a bum, but you beat him. How do you feel now that you did it?
TYSON FURY: Well I don’t feel any different than before I beat him to be honest with you. It was one of those things I knew I could beat Dereck Chisora. He didn’t have my number and I knew I had his number. He was a good worthy challenger and he was a good British champion, but it was just unfortunate he had to come against Tyson Fury the way that he did. I do believe if it was any other British heavyweight or any other heavyweight in the world bar the Klitschkos, he would have done a job on them because he’s a strong tough man.
JENNA: Is there anything during the fight that he did that surprised you?
FURY: No he didn’t do anything to surprise me, because I knew what he was going to do before he did it himself. He came in extra heavy to try and knock me out of it, and he didn’t manage to do it and that was it. I out boxed him.
JENNA: Now you mentioned his weight. Do you think if he came in lighter that he might have performed any differently?
FURY: No. I do believe that if he came in any lighter he wouldn’t have lasted the distance. But then again it wouldn’t have mattered because I wasn’t putting any power in the shots after about three or four rounds. They were only tap punches. There was no power in them. They were non-damaging blows so it wouldn’t have mattered.
JENNA: One thing you showed during the fight was that you have a lot of poise. When he was attacking you, you stayed calm and you composed yourself. What do you think allowed you to that?
FURY: I’m just a kind and relaxed kind of person and it’s only a boxing match at the end of the day. He hasn’t got anything that I haven’t seen before. He’s only a man with a pair of gloves on and he’s coming and swinging some punches at me. I’ve been training since I’ve been 14 years old with boxing and stuff, so if I can’t defend myself from a punch or if I get upset or wary when somebody attacks me than I’m obviously not good at my job. Am I? So I just think it’s about keeping calm and relaxed and just doing your job, and that’s what it is. It’s a job. So you get in there, you do it, no hard feelings, and may the best man win, and that’s how it goes and that’s how I do it.
JENNA: Now do you feel this past weekend’s performance was the best of your career?
FURY: No, not really. It wasn’t the best performance of my career by far. I thought it was okay on the night because I had done what I had to do and beat him. There was a lot on the fight, a lot going, but it wasn’t one of the best performances, by far. No. There is a lot more to come from Tyson Fury. That’s just a chip off the block.
JENNA: Alright well the critics had you as an underdog in this fight and you proved them wrong. Where do you see yourself going forward?
FURY: Obviously I’m going to look at this now and go back to the drawing board. I’ve got a lot of things to work on. I’m not a finished article. I’m 22 and I’ve got a lot of things to work on. I’m going to just keep training and keep taking it easy. I think they’re trying to build a Klitschko fight now, but I’m not going to stay stagnant like Chisora did. I’m going to keep busy. I want to keep busy and I think keeping busy is the most important thing. So I’m just waiting for my hands to heal up, and then I’m going to be back in training and I should be fighting again by October.
GEOFFREY CIANI: Tyson in the second round of that fight, Chisora seemed to get to you a little bit and it looked like he might cause you a lot more trouble than he wound up causing you overall. Did he get to you at any point in that round where he hurt you or had you at all worried?
FURY: No. He caught me with some good shots, credit to him, but I wasn’t hurt, wobbled, stunned, or anything! Forget what the commentators say, because they aren’t taking the punches. Are they? I’m an honest person. If I was wobbled or hurt I’d say it, and I wasn’t. I’ve never been wobbled in my life. I’ve never been put down, wobbled, stunned, or anything. He got me with some good shots, but I was fully focused on what I was doing. He was just blowing himself out, really. I was just letting him come on. If you watch the tape I was smiling. I wasn’t hurt or anything. He fell for my game plan. Everything done in that fight was done on purpose and he just went for the kill before I did and he lost, simple.
CIANI: You seemed to have improved a great deal in your technique and your balance especially the last year and half or so. What do you attribute these improvements to?
FURY: Just dedication, really. Before I wasn’t eating correctly, I was going in fat as a pig unfit. I wasn’t training. I was training, but I wasn’t eating correct and the food is the most important thing. If you’re not eating correct you’re not a fit fighter and I was never a fit fighter before. I was always carrying a lot of fat and the results were in the performances. As far as balance it’s just about working on it in the gym, isn’t it, and doing different things or whatever. I’ve always had good balance, I’ve always been a good mover, and for a heavyweight I can move and I’m quite quick on my feet. So it’s always been there, it’s just about getting it out and using it. If you think that was a good performance, I’m telling you you’re in for a massive shock, big time! I would rate that out of ten maybe a three or a four. That was nowhere near my best. You’re in for a massive shock if you think that was a good performance!
CIANI: Well what do you think it will take to bring out the best of Tyson Fury?
FURY: Just the dedication, to keep going with the dedication, and keep training, and just staying active and it will come over night. One day I’ll go in the ring and I’ll be the finished article, but I’m not a finished article as of yet. I’ve still got a lot of learning to do and a lot of practicing, and I’ll get there. Well there are plenty of fights out there for me at the moment so we’re not in a rush to fight anyone. We’ve got the titles now and they have to come to me really if they want to fight.
CIANI: David Haye who recently challenged Wladimir, he wasn’t a very popular fighter over here in America. Fans didn’t tend to like him, or know about him, or care about him that much. Do you think in the long run that you have the potential to make that crossover appeal where you can be popular both in your home country and over here in America?
FURY: I do because I wear my heart on my sleeve and I do believe the American fight fans delight that. I’m tall here, but let me tell you I beat him on the inside as well. I outfought him, I outboxed him, and I out counterpunched him. So I’m an all around package. I’ve got a good chin, I can punch, I’m quick enough, and I go in for a fight as well regardless. I do believe when they get to see me a bit more they’ll like what they see and hopefully they’ll get behind me.
JENNA: Alright well Tyson, let’s talk about what’s next. You said you’re looking towards October to return to the ring, and previously you had been in talks with Hasim Rahman. Do you think that’s the type of fight you would want to get yourself ranked by the sanctioning organizations?
FURY: To be honest with you, it’s whatever Mick Hennessy does. It’s not up to me. It’s up to my promoter Mick Hennessy. There are plenty of fights out there. All these guys are going to want to fight me now, all of these Hasim Rahmans and all these guys, but they are all old guys. I’m young and I’m ambitious. They can’t beat me! They’re too old! This is a young man’s sport. To be honest, they aren’t fit to put them in the ring with me, Hasim Rahman or any of those men, because I’m just too young and too big. They’ll get seriously hurt. He’s had a lot of fights Rahman and he’s took a lot of punishment. Just to put him with a giant 22 year old as well is just going to put the icing on the cake. It would be silly, really. I would be looking to fight some prospects. I like taking undefeated records, to be honest. So while we are setting up a Klitschko fight I won’t mind fighting Daunte Wilder, or Nazim Patrick the young Canadian champion, or David Price the Olympic Bronze Medalist. There are plenty of undefeated guys out there. I like these undefeated guys. No one can slate them. Everyone has got say good things when I beat them, so that’s what I like.
CIANI: Which fight coming up the rest of this year are you most looking forward to from the perspective of a fan?
FURY: Well I’m quite looking forward to Klitschko-Adamek, to be honest. I’m very looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to Ortiz and Mayyweather as well, and that’s about it really. That’s the only fights I can think of at the moment that I’m looking forward to.
CIANI: And how do you see the Ortiz-Mayweather one playing out?
FURY: I see Ortiz going down as another one of his victim’s to be honest, because Mayweather is in a different league really to Victor Ortiz. Victor Ortiz is a very good man. He’s a world champion. I give a lot of credit to him as a fighter, but a good boxer will always beat a good fighter. Victor Ortiz is a good fighter, but Mayweather is a super phenomenal boxer and I do believe Mayweather will outbox him quite easily.
JENNA: I wanted to get your views on the news that Antonio Tarver returned and scored a big upset over Danny Green.
FURY: Well Tarver’s a bigger man than Green, isn’t he? Green’s only a super middleweight who’s moved up to cruiserweight. He’s not really a cruiserweight so it was expected really. But I’ll tell you what, he wants to stay out of the heavyweight division because he almost had a fight with me one time when we were going to be on the bill with Amir Khan and Paul McCloskey and his management team didn’t take it. So I don’t care where he goes from the cruiserweight but just stay out of my division because I’m cleaning it up.
JENNA: Your fans were cheering very loud for you on the night this past weekend. Is there anything you want to say to your supporters?
FURY: I just want to thank everyone for coming and watching me, and without fans fighters are nothing. We all know that. We all need supporters or we don’t go anywhere in boxing. Without boxing fans boxing wouldn’t be an existing sport at the moment. So all credit goes to the fans really and thank you everybody for coming and watching, and just keep following me. There are big things to come in the future and hopefully I can get world titles and give them something to really cheer for.
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For those interested in listening to the Tyson Fury interview in its entirety, it begins right at the beginning of the program.
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