Tyson Fury deserves sympathy and support not abhorrent abuse

When the gloves are off, all that looks back at you is the bloke in the mirror.

For Tyson Fury, that might be a bigger problem than it sounds.

Fury is apparently being lined up for a stint in ITV’s I’m a Celebrity series which might do him more harm than good, but will certainly be better than sticking his head on the block against a figure like Wladimir Klitschko in a heavweight boxing match.

Fury’s mental state probably won’t be solved by reality television or social media. It certainly cannot be healed by stepping back into the ring.

Klitschko appears to epitomise the perfect professional boxer: clean-cut, calculated, devoted, educated, talkative and clean-living.

He said this morning that the outspoken Mancunian Fury was bringing the sport into disrepute over revelations he had taken cocaine, but the mental health of elite sportsmen should be paramount rather than a fight game which is only ever a means to an end.

When Fury said last week he had taken to drink and drugs to cope with depression, he was merely following a well-trodden path followed by a phalanx of vulnerable figures - whether they are dabbling in charlie or something harder.

It was not so long ago that one tabloid newspaper described Frank Bruno as 'Bonkers Bruno Locked Up' after he required treatment for mental health problems. There remains a general ignorance to mental illness in these parts.

Boxing’s relevant authorities will naturally strip Fury of the remaining WBA and WBO titles he won on points against Klitschko in Dusseldorf last November. He also faces a ban from the sport, but Fury appears to be fighting a much bigger bout than one that will earn him merely a belt and a purse.

In his current state, boxing should be the last thing on Fury’s mind.

It was Billy Joe Saunders, a fellow Gypsy boxer, who spoke the most sense when he attempted to illustrate the problems confronting Fury.

"I'm very concerned that he won't see 30 years old. Very concerned,” said Saunders.

“It’s easy to say just ignore it if you are not on the receiving end all of the time.

“It isn’t every so often (that he is abused on social media]) it is every day. After a bit you get to think, ‘This is true.’

“I know some people say things to get certain reactions. I put it to the back of my mind.

“With Twitter and Facebook, you can chuck that phone out of the window if you want and never have to look at it again, but not when it’s night and day walking down the street, when you can’t get away from it.

“You can be sitting in a restaurant, and someone is giving you abuse.”

Fury has been pilloried in this country for his views, but there seems to be a cry for help from Fury with his ongoing provocative, eccentric and attention-seeking behaviour.

Whether or not you him as homophobic, sexist, a pantomime villain or just a bit of an uneducated idiot, these are not grounds to burn him at the stake.

It is also true to say that the travelling community in this country appear to be fair game for all sorts of unacceptable levels of hate crimes, perhaps heightened by the post-Brexit world we live in.

Fury is only 28. He posted a video on his Twitter account the other day highlighting the level of abuse he is subject to via social media. It is abhorrent.

He is not a pikey, but a troubled man who is clearly in need of help.

It was a point picked up on by Ireland's former featherweight world champion Barry McGuigan this morning.

"The health of the boxers is really important to me," he said. "There is no help available to boxers for depression and mental health issues which is something I really want to concentrate on.

"There are colossal sums in some of the fights and there is plenty of money available, of which some should be set aside for mental health issues. We definitely need to address it.”

Fury has earned plenty but also poured plenty into boxing, a sport that mimics life: it is only ever you against yourself.

Away from the trash talk deployed to sell fights, Fury deserves the support of his sport and some breathing space as he attempts to find a more assured state of mind.

As a person, not a pugilist.