The only way is down: So what next for Tyson Fury?
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ByEurosport
Updated 04/02/2016 at 13:28 GMT
The recently crowned heavyweight champion of the world has admitted motivation is already a problem. Having achieved his dream he fears there is nothing more to strive for – so what should his next step be?
Tyson Fury poses with his belts after the press conference.
Image credit: Reuters
Tyson Fury might be one of the most outspoken and controversial sports stars of the last few years, but he is clearly far from one of the stupidest. His messages might occasionally be confusing – and sometimes downright offensive – but it seems, much like his style within the ring, amid the ducking and weaving and smoke and mirrors there is the occasional straight right of devastating clarity.
"I've accomplished a dream," Fury told the BBC this week, reflecting on last year’s defeat of Wladimir Klitschko that crowned him heavyweight champion of the world. "It's about how much motivation I have to keep going on.
I believe I'll be frozen in 2015 for the next 40 years, or however long I live for. Nothing's going to outdo that achievement.
In that comment, Fury – a man regularly lambasted for his antiquated or unreconstructed views on the modern issues of the day – has shown a self-awareness that has eluded many far greater sportsmen.
Roy Jones Jr., to take one recent example from the sport, was at one point set to be ‘frozen in time’, as Fury puts it, as one of the greatest ever – winning world titles in four different weight classes. Yet the American’s legacy may now be tainted by the memory of his more recent fights, the 47-year-old still taking to the ring (most recently in a loss to the journeyman Enzo Maccarinelli) for no obvious reason other than to smear the legacy he had previously worked so hard to build, and earn a bit of money.
It seems Fury is not interested in that sort of endgame, of becoming a supporting actor to someone else’s rise. Having always dreamed of being world heavyweight champion, Fury has now realised that ambition - and amid the cries of those telling him it could not be done. So the obvious next question becomes: Now what?
"If I win another 50 fights, it's not going to mean as much," Fury added. "I'm struggling to get motivated.
"All that I would be boxing for is money and I always thought to myself I never want to let sport become about money."
FURY’S EXPERIENCE IS NOTHING NEW
The emotions Fury is experiencing are not unique, indeed many sportsmen have commented on the same phenomenon after cresting their own Everest. Andy Murray admitted it took him more than three months after winning Wimbledon for the first time to get back into a training groove.
'It was different, not having motivation,” Murray reflected. “That’s not a nice feeling because I’m used to being extremely motivated, so there are parts that made me happy and there were some things like struggling to get up for practices and training - that wasn’t that nice.”
Golf, too, has seen similar post-success dips – both Webb Simpson and Adam Scott have found it hard to return to such heights after their maiden major success, while Bubba Watson struggled for much of 2012 and 2013 after breaking through at the Masters. But golf, like tennis and unlike boxing, offers a constant treadmill of events and titles to compete for - ensuring no one player gets too long to dwell on past achievements.
It is perhaps true in team sports too; of the last three Premier League champions, it is notable that all of them offered rather tepid defences of their titles the following year.
Of course in boxing the price that can be paid for even a fractional drop in focus can be very serious indeed, which is perhaps why Fury is so concerned by it.
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Ukrainian heavyweight boxing world champion Wladimir Klitschko enters the ring before fighting Bulgarian challenger Kubrat Pulev in the IBF, IBO, WBO and WBA title bout at the O2 arena on November 15, 2014 in the northern German city of Hamburg.
Image credit: AFP
DESIRE IS WHAT ELEVATES THE GREATS
On the other hand, many will suggest that this is where the difference between the good and the all-time greats is truly exposed – that those not content with their first significant breakthrough are the ones who go on to rack up two, three, four or more successes as they keep setting their sights higher and higher.
So perhaps it should not be overlooked that Fury’s comments might come in part from a place of pragmatism – an awareness that perhaps the going for him now is as good as it is ever going to be, and he perhaps does not have the talent (or the desire) to dominate the heavyweight division for years like Klitschko did.
After all, this is a man who less than four years ago vacated his British and Commonwealth titles, ostensibly so as to avoid having to meet mandatory challenger David Price, the former Olympic medallist who at the time was also unbeaten.
Price’s career almost immediately took a nose-dive, however, with successive defeats to the veteran Tony Thompson and last year’s loss to Erkan Teper (which was then ruled a no-contest after Teper failed a drugs test) derailing the career of a man briefly considered a potential world-beater. The fact Fury would not face him before all of that, however, is instructive of a certain fear about his own limitations.
The decision paid off, of course, Fury subsequently rolling over a number of mid-tier names, retaining his unbeaten record while running his mouth enough to make a meeting with Wladimir Klitschko vaguely marketable. Few expected Fury to actually beat the Ukrainian but, as we saw, a combination of Klitschko’s alarmingly declining skills and Fury’s brilliant tactics enabled him to engineer a deserved win.
Nevertheless, there is little expert conviction that Fury would even win a rematch between the two. The bookies currently have the as-yet-unarranged second showdown as a genuine 50-50 proposition (both men are 10/11 with almost all bookmakers), although the passing of time surely only favours the younger man.
That being so, the heavyweight division also has a number of challengers emerging – Anthony Joshua, most obviously, but also Deontay Wilder, Luis Ortiz and even the returning David Haye – and no-one has ever pegged Fury as a man to run the table against all of them.
Fury has revelled in defying such expectations before, of course. But if he secretly believes he will beaten sooner rather than later, you can see why he might wonder what he really can gain by committing to big fight after big fight.
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Tyson Fury in Carshalton.
Image credit: Reuters
WHAT COULD BE AHEAD
If Fury was to retire, or at the very least vacate his belts and return to a position where he can pick his own schedule, then what would he be missing out on?
The rematch with Klitschko would seem to be the first fight on the slate, although that is still to be finalised. Fury himself has revealed that he has already had an $120m offer for that contest, from an unidentified Sheikh who apparently planned to stage the bout on his super-yacht, with 120 close (and rich) friends stumping up $1m each to watch the fight without press, television or fan involvement.
That would certainly represent a brave new world for boxing, but it does not appear to be an avenue that anyone is seriously considering exploring.
A rematch somewhere more conventional – another German city, perhaps, or even London’s Wembley Stadium – would likely net the best part of £15m (the first fight was believed to bring in £30m, and Fury should command a 50-50 split this time).
Assuming success in that fight, and with Klitschko then stepping into retirement, Fury would have no shortage of options if he wanted to continue fighting regularly. Joshua, Wilder and Haye (although he has insisted he never wants to fight the Hayemaker after two previous fights ended up being postponed) could serve as ‘tentpole’ fights each summer, with a number of other less talented contenders used as puff pieces between those genuine contests.
Even if Fury were to lose one (or more) of those fights, he could continue a lucrative career in the division’s second tier – a ‘name’ fighter and former champion to provide pulling power and legitimacy to the next wave of pretenders coming through. It is the inevitable endgame of all but the very best fighters.
It is also, of course, not a particularly glamorous or exciting existence - boxing’s hype machine doing all it can to obscure the fact you essentially end up playing the heel to the next great hope, the has-been transferring his remaining star power to the possibly-could-be in return for a sizeable pay cheque.
In his current position, standing atop the world, it is perhaps not too surprising that Fury might view this likely last phase of his career as something to be avoided.
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Former British Heavyweight boxer Frank Bruno is seen at the David Haye and Monte Barrett Heavyweight eliminator title fight at the O2 arena, London on November 15, 2008. Haye knocked out Barrett in the fifth round of his first Heavyweight match to win the
Image credit: AFP
THE CAUTIONARY TALE
Boxing, and sport, is full of legends who seemed to walk away at the right time (or even before their time) … and then could not stay, returning when their skills had already faded, and becoming victims of their own hubris.
Michael Jordan might be the most notable example of this, returning as a Washington Wizards veteran in 2000 in a brief return to basketball that remains widely (albeit possibly harshly) pilloried.
Boxing has a particular history with this sort of thing, in part because fighters seem remarkably capable of frittering away the fortunes they make and find themselves with only one marketable skill left for another payday. Either that, or some cannot resist the bright lights (as Haye, and before that Ricky Hatton, remind us).
The current example of this is Frank Bruno, the now-54-year-old former heavyweight world champion who says he wants to return to the ring, in part to help fend off some of his well-publicised demons.
Many have expressed alarm at the idea but, for what it’s worth, Fury himself believes Bruno should be able to fight.
"He deserves a lot of credit,” Fury said recently. “If he wants to come back, as a former heavyweight champion from the United Kingdom, who are we and the British Boxing Board of Control to say he can’t?”
Bruno’s situation should be of note to Fury for another reason, however, a reminder that almost all sports stars come to desperately miss that life once retirement arrives. At 27, Fury still has a long career ahead of him. He may feel unmotivated now but, if he were to retire, it seems a safe bet that he would come to regret those lost years once the itch started to return.
After all it is barely two weeks since Fury was storming the ring after a Wilder fight to confront the American - a clear fight-hyping move that you would surely not do if you weren't thinking of continuing your career. Fury has always been an erratic person, even volatile, and perhaps just needs to let his post-title persona recalibrate a bit more.
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Tyson Fury worked up an appetite in his world title bout
Image credit: Imago
THE SUGGESTION
Fury’s current existential conflict should perhaps be no real surprise, when you consider his current situation. The only surprise is that Fury would talk so openly about it – but then the 27-year-old has never been one to filter his thought process.
Still, the Manchester-born fighter will have to ponder another question if he does seriously want to step away from the sport: What will he do next? Everyone needs some drive, something to work for, and for a man who has dedicated his entire career to boxing he will likely find he does not have many other options.
The route of many ex-boxers, the media, will likely be unavailable to Fury (broadcasters scared off by his outspoken ways), while turning his fortune into some sort of business empire might be too sedate a project for someone used to living such a visceral, physical lifestyle.
George Foreman had his grills, but most other boxers have found it easier to spend money than invest it sensibly.
Fury could feasibly turn to training (his cousin, Hughie Fury, is a touted heavyweight himself), which may be something which appeals. But that is an avenue that will still be open to him in 10 or 15 years, whereas his time in the ring is more finite.
Fury should give himself more time to think, to reflect. One dream might have been realised, but all humans – and sportsmen in particular – have a talent for finding new goals to strive for once they have reached previous aspirations.
Fury could well be right, and his achievements of late 2015 will always be what define him. But that is not necessarily a bad thing – and there are still many fights, and much money, for him to make in the ring.
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