Tyson Fury v Deontay Wilder III: World heavyweight champion on his motivation and future

[Animous]

British world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury says his achievements in the sport have already made him a boxing "great" and that his love of fighting is what motivates him to continue.

The unbeaten 33-year-old defends his WBC title against American Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas over the weekend.

It will be their third fight after a draw in 2018 before Fury gained a seventh-round win in the 2020 rematch.

"If I didn't have any more fights I would not regret anything," said Fury.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Boxing podcast, he added: "I'm not fighting to be the greatest of all time, I'm not fighting to be a legend.

"It wouldn't benefit me earning another £50m or £200m, you don't need to be rich to live my life - I'm just a normal person who is very good at boxing and a very special, chosen person.

"I could walk away and never look at boxing again and what I've done could never be taken away.

"People would always remember the enigmatic Tyson Fury, the crazy man who fought everybody, the biggest punchers in our generation didn't faze him, went across the pond, fought [Wladimir] Klitschko in Germany.

"Even if I had no belts I would still be the biggest fight out there."

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Fury knocked Wilder down twice on his way to a seventh-round victory in Las Vegas in February 2020

'After boxing I will be a very sad, lonely person'

Fury, with 30 wins and one draw, has not fought since a superb display in February 2020 in his second bout with Wilder that saw him knock the American down twice before the towel came in from Wilder's corner.

"What motivates me? I'm getting asked this a lot," said Fury. "It's definitely not a few quid, it's a fact there's nothing else.

"I'm boxing because I can - I don't enjoy anything else, I don't have any hobbies. After boxing I will be a very sad, lonely person.

"I've tried [looking after] animals, four-wheeled driving, got a shotgun licence, clay pigeon shooting, nothing turns me on."

Fury became world champion in November 2015 with a points win over Klitschko, but did not fight for more than two years as his weight went up to 28 stone and he struggled with mental health issues.

But he says he now knows what makes him happy.

"I've drunk all the beer in the world and done everything," he added. "I've been on boats, planes, automobiles, stayed in luxury hotels, had dinners for two or three grand, does it make me happy? No. While you are searching for stuff like that you never find happiness but with simplicity you always can.

"I will never be a politician, the Prime Minister of England or a rocket scientist. I will always be myself, I don't want to change my circles.

"I will always train, until I die. I've got a gym in Morecambe and a massive training facility. When I end boxing I will go full-time with the gym and the foundation stuff. I've not had the time, I'm flat out with my career but I'll spend a lot of time doing that."

Fury 'learns so fast'

Trainer SugarHill Steward believes Fury is still improving, which is one of the reasons why he still enjoys the sport.

Steward said: "The things we did in the second fight, those things have improved greatly. Tyson has incredible ability around the board in every category so it's just improving them and he learns so fast."

Wilder, 35, suffered the only professional loss of his career against Fury, who is expecting a great fight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, with the contest set to start at 04:00 BST on Sunday, 10 October.

"We both know what we can do, there's no secrets," said Fury. "I'm dealing with a guy that can knock you out with one punch and he's dealing with the same.

"When you have the two biggest heavyweights going for it on the biggest stage you are always in for an exciting night. The heavyweight landscape can change in seconds and it's up to me to keep it on track and not let it change."

Fury has 30 wins and one draw in his 31-fight professional career, with 21 victories inside the distance

'Boxing's not a sensible sport'

Fury looked set for a summer fight with fellow Briton Anthony Joshua, before a court arbitration ruled that Fury had to fight Wilder instead.

Since then, Joshua has lost his WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO world heavyweight titles to Ukraine's Oleksandr Usyk, ending hopes of an all-British fight to be the undisputed champion.

Fury's co-promoter Bob Arum believes Usyk, not Joshua, should be Fury's next opponent.

"What should happen is Tyson wins, he fights Usyk next for the titles with the provision that whoever wins fights Joshua," said Arum.

"If this was a sensible sport that's what would happen, but it's not. You have [Joshua's promoter] Eddie Hearn's ego, Anthony Joshua's ego, Frank [Warren] saying things.

"You would have Usyk fight Tyson in February and in September the winner fights Joshua - none of this if you lose you have to give my guy a rematch."

Fury helping Joshua?

Joshua has already said he will take a rematch with Usyk and Fury believes the Briton could win.

"A lot of people that don't know about boxing were saying the smaller guy [Usyk] would get beaten by Joshua," said Fury.

"Do I think he could beat Usyk? Definitely, if me and SugarHill trained him for it, we could give him the victory, then I wouldn't be able to train him for a fight with me."

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