Tyson Fury is renowned for his assurance and arrogance, but even the world heavyweight champion can experience mental health issues.
Following his knockout of Dillian Whyte in front of 94,000 spectators at Wembley Stadium in April of this year, Fury announced his retirement from boxing with a 32-0-1 unblemished record.
Although it now appears that neither of those matches will take place until at least next year, “The Gypsy King” was unable to stay away and recently made a comeback to the sport by calling out Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk.
Instead, according to the Daily Telegraph, Derek Chisora is the favourite to face Tyson Fury in the third and final fight in their trilogy. The two have previously fought twice, with ‘The Gypsy King’ winning both times by unanimous decision in 2011 and 2014.
As long as Fury was retired, there was constant rumour that he will return because he was still frequently releasing workout videos.
Now that Fury has admitted that this was a method of keeping his mental health in check, he realises that he also needs professional boxing to maintain his sanity and wonders if he would ever be able to give up the sport.
According to Fury, who spoke to Behind The Gloves, “I can’t walk away and maybe there’s someone out there like a doctor or psychologist or anyone who might truly assist me. I think I’m going to need mental therapy to let go of this stuff.”
“If you were to inquire of me today, “What are you boxing for? ” I don’t have any ambitions or aspirations to box.
Most read in Boxing
“I box because I believe I need to box in order to maintain my sanity. I battle for my life every day.
“I don’t know whether I can survive without this professional boxing,” the boxer said. I trained in the boxing gym twice a day, seven days a week, while taking a four-month break.
“I was in camp with Tommy [Fury] and Joseph Parker, and I never stopped. Since I can’t stop training, I almost feel bad for ‘The Gypsy King.
Because he is a lonely, awful, and depressed guy without the battle game, even if I wanted him to disappear, I was unable to avoid him. I’m responsible because I made the monster.
“I’m a man who genuinely wants to quit boxing; I don’t want to be involved with boxing, but I can’t stop, so I just keep going.
“I work out every day, usually twice a day, but I work out in a boxing setting for my mental health and welfare.
“So, if I’m working out every day and I’m in top shape doing castle runs, I’m never going to be able to let this fight game go, because I’m always in shape, I’m always sharp, I’m always prepared, and I’m sparring, hitting the bag, and doing padwork, but that’s a form of fitness.
“How long will I have to continue doing this makes me nervous.
And will there ever come a time when I simply can’t attend to a boxing gym to stay in shape? Will just running and lifting weights ever be sufficient?
