By Tim Royner: In a strange interview for Tyson Fury on Saturday, he started off complimenting Anthony Joshua over his win Andy Ruiz, but then he ended up royally trashing them both while putting his rematch with Deontay Wilder heads and shoulders above their recent fight.
It had to be hard for Fury (29-0-1, 20 KOs) to briefly give Joshua (23-1, 21 KOs) credit for winning back his IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight titles from Ruiz Jr. (33-2, 22 KOs) last Saturday night in Saudi Arabia.
If Fury’s interview ended at the halfway point, it would have been better, because that was at the juncture where he started sounding utterly bitter and green with envy.
Fury: Joshua looked fantastic against Ruiz
“He came in a little bit heavy and didn’t get his shots off,” said Fury about Ruiz in BehindtheGloves. “Fair play to AJ, he outboxed a fellow who knocked him out before. It takes a lot of guts and boxing ability. I thought he looked fantastic. I’ve heard the criticism. I’d rather win and stink the place out than lose in a very entertaining fight. This game is about winning. I don’t care if you win by an inch or a point. Winning is winning. No one wants to lose,” said Fury.
It’s unclear whether Fury was saying nice things about Joshua and Ruiz because he wanted to purposefully take the high road to show some class. Whatever the case, Fury didn’t stay in character for long before revealing his bitter side by downgrading the Joshua-Ruiz 2 fight in placing it BELOW his rematch with Deontay Wilder. As terrible as Ruiz looked, Fury and Wilder have a low bar to leap over to put on a more fan-friendly fight in their rematch on February 22.
Fury certainly had plenty of reasons to fire away at Ruiz, who came into the fight with Joshua weighing 283 lbs, and no kind of condition to fight. The poor condition that Ruiz came in robbed Joshua from receiving 100% credit for his victory. How could boxing fans give Joshua credit with Ruiz looking borderline obese for the fight?
No one is interested in Joshua vs. Ruiz says Tyson Fury
“Let’s face it, no-one’s really interested in Ruiz and Joshua,” said a jealous sounding Fury. “They’re just two other heavyweights [that WERE] on a collision course. The real fight is me and Wilder. This is the biggest heavyweight fight of my lifetime. Won’t be a bigger one any time soon. I don’t want the fight, but I’m going to take it anyway. When I had three years out of the ring, and I come back and beat him, it was one of those things,” said Fury in inventing a false history. For the record, Fury’s fight with Wilder last December ended in a 12 round draw. Fury blew his chance of winning when he was knocked unconscious in the 12th round.
“I’m match fit, and never stopped training for two years. I look even scarier today after a year long layoff,” Fury continued.
The bigger fight than the Wilder vs. Fury rematch is the winner of that contest eventually taking on the last man standing in 2021. Wilder and Fury are supposed to fight each other twice in 2020. Joshua has mandatory defenses against IBF mandatory Kubrat Pulev and WBO mandatory Oleksandr Usyk in 2020.
There’s no telling who will wind up with the IBF/WBO belts at the end of the year. Joshua’s chin might not hold up under the shots from Pulev and Usyk, who will come into their fights against him in excellent shape.
There’s not too many boxing fans interested in Joshua’s rematch with Ruiz now, because it’s already done. Joshua completely dominated Ruiz, and the fans are trying their best to forget that horrible albatross. With all the hype that the Joshua-Ruiz 2 rematch generated, it was a real letdown for fans.
Fury: I’ll box until I’m 50
“I’m only 31-years-old. And I’m going to go until I can’t go anymore, and I’m not going to retire after three fights,” said Fury. “I’m going to box until I’m 50-years-old. I’ll be like the age-less Archie Moore. I’m going to keep going. What else is there in my life? If you take boxing out of my life, am I going to go get drunk. I’m not interested in being a boxing trainer, and I’m not interested in being a boxing manager,” said Fury.
“I am the main man, the attraction that people want to watch, and does it,” Fury said. “I’m not interested in being a manager. I’ve got to be the man doing the action. So I’m going to keep going. All the great fighters have done it.
“Mayweather is probably going to make a comeback at 40-something years old. Manny Pacquiao is still going. I want to fight Wilder, and if he wants a rematch, then I’ll fight him again, and then I want to fight the UFC champion,” said Fury.
“I’ve got three fights left on my ESPN contract, Wilder, Wilder and whoever else, another American,” said Fury when asked about his comments by Joshua that he wants to fight him. “I’ll be pretty busy until the end of next year.
Fury has 3 fights left on his ESPN contract, and it’s anyone’s guess what his status will be when it expires. If Wilder knocks out Fury in consecutive fights in 2020, his career is going to be looking ready for the scrap heap. If Fury takes a fight against UFC heavyweight champion coming off of 2 knockout losses to Wilder, the fight won’t be well received. It would be better for Fury to try and redeem himself against someone from the sport of boxing instead of embarrassing himself by fighting an MMA guy.