The challenger to Deontay Wilder’s WBC heavyweight crown, former unified heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, not only boxes. He also talks. He no longer makes controversial statements. He now bites his tongue. The unexpurgated Tyson Fury could make one cringe, but the sanitized version is boring. Fury recently met with the press via teleconference call and much was said. Some of it might matter. An edited version of his remarks is below.

 

With the first fight against Wilder still in mind, Fury tried to put his performance in perspective.  

 

“Last time, I only had a couple of fights,” he said, “after three years out of the ring. This time, I've had well over a year of activity and I'm going to have five victories back to back. I beat him in our 12-round contest. I'm match fit. I'm ready. I'm confident. I'm injury-free. No excuses on my end. I'm ready for a war.”

 

Having faced Wilder once, Fury knows what to expect a second time.

 

“I learned he can be hit, and he can be hurt quite regularly. That's the biggest thing that I learned about Deontay Wilder. Nothing I didn’t already know. Before I fought him, obviously I didn’t know what he was like in a boxing ring, and after I fought him, I know what he's like. And I think there's nothing to worry about. He's got a big right hand and that's it. I outboxed him quite comfortable, took his best shots, got up, fired back into him. He's a one-dimensional fighter, a one-trick pony.”

 

But Wilder has power, the old Suzie Q. If she lands you can call it a night.

 

“This is heavyweight boxing,” Fury said. “I've been hit. I've been hurt. He's landed the two best punches that any heavyweight in the world could ever land on somebody else, and the Gypsy King rose like a Phoenix from the ashes. I've felt the power. He punches hard, but I've never been hit by the likes of someone like Earnie Shavers. I didn’t get hit by George Foreman. But make no mistake, all heavyweights punch hard and we can all knock anybody out. My own destiny lies in my own two fists.”

 

The Wilder rematch has been called a legacy fight, which means next to nothing to Tyson Fury.

 

“I'm not really too concerned about the legacy,” he said. “I've done what I've done, and when I'm finished with boxing, I don’t care about the legacy at all. I care about what's happening now. I'm not overly concerned about what happens when I'm done. When I'm done, it means I'm retired, and when I'm retired it means I'm onto other things and I'll be in another chapter of my life. I'm living my dream, my childhood dream, my young adult dream and my midlife dream. There will be somebody else to replace me just like everybody else, every other champion. Other young guys will come along and take my place and that's how the food chain works.”