Let Tyson Fury Be Tyson Fury

The sight of Tyson Fury, as fissed as a part, being led out of a bar by security and then stumbling to his knees until his head nestled against a lamp post raised eyebrows. 

It even made headlines in certain places. But ‘Tyson Fury Gets Drunk’ is not exactly in the running for scoop of the year.

Today, Fury posted a video of himself in somewhat better condition than he appeared at the weekend.

“I’m back in the gym as you can see,” he said. “I am counting down the days until I can get my redemption on Usyk. December 21st is going to be my time.”

Judging the actions of an off-duty athlete can be described as somewhat snobbish, particularly when those looking down their noses at Fury also come from a culture where, too often, drunkenness is not an affliction but a way of life. The cretins responsible for the clip going viral are far worthier of your disdain. 

Let Fury be Fury.

It is far too early to be hitting the panic button regarding his boxing career. And even if it wasn’t, and he had opted to let the good times roll, he’s already achieved enough in a prize ring to spend his time and money outside of it in whichever (lawful) way he pleases.  

Furthermore, it is mere weeks since he engaged in one of the greatest heavyweight battles of the modern era with Oleksandr Usyk. After a long and arduous training camp, Fury pushed the brilliant Ukrainian all the way only to lose a split decision which left the public eager for more. And with the rematch now set for December 21, Fury has ample time.

Some have suggested he has too much time, however.  

Fury has frequently admitted he needs the daily grind of a training routine to keep his body fit and his brain free from turmoil. And though the pre-Christmas date for the Usyk sequel was largely regarded as good planning – it gives both fighters plenty of time to rest and recover after such a gruelling contest and therefore to remain injury-free – it’s also somewhat unusual in this sport to have such an important date so far ahead in the calendar. Ordinarily, a contest is announced three months before it takes place, a press conference quickly follows from which those early combative juices start to flow, and then into training camp the fighters go.

Knowing that you’re fighting in six months’ time requires dedication of a different kind and one, it can be argued, that is harder to manage than if the bout was taking place in a future more foreseeable. Fury knows that he doesn’t have to enter camp for at least another three months. 

That amount of downtime is an awful lot in the world of Tyson Fury.

It would be churlish to list all his past misdemeanours when left to his own devices, particularly when we now have evidence that proves he’s rebounded from each of them. Yet it’s also natural to wonder if the Englishman, content he can do whatever he pleases during a summer loaded with temptation, might succumb to the demons that made the old mountains so difficult to climb. 

This is far from the first time we’ve seen Fury under the influence. Even so, those who observe that this latest tumble into drunken oblivion will do little for his chances in the rematch do have a point. After all, had it been Usyk on all fours after drinking himself daft the reaction would have been one of astonishment and concern. 

It’s long been clear that 35-year-old Fury, like a hefty percentage of people his age, takes enormous pleasure in the short term high of intoxication. And to be clear, this is not an effort to pass cruel judgement upon him for that, but an acknowledgement of how difficult a session on the tiles must be to resist when under no pressure to earn money and without any pressing deadlines to meet. 

It’s easy to take that thinking further. If he doesn’t need the money from a return and he doesn’t find pleasure in the attention his fame guarantees, then one naturally wonders what is in it for him to do it all over again. He has been a boxer, amateur and professional, for the best part of 25 years. Should there be a voice in his head telling him today is the day to escape to a local pub, it’s little wonder he takes note.

Though he took his loss to Usyk with good grace it was nonetheless the only time in his professional career he’d been forced to deal with defeat. That first loss can haunt a previously undefeated champion.

Yet to suggest that Fury has taken the loss so badly that he’s now going to spend the next five months getting blind drunk is taking the doom-mongering to nonsensical levels. The man who enjoys a drink wanted a drink and had too many of them would appear the extent of the story. And if he wants more drinks, that’s his decision to make.

But it is the result of fight one – a defeat he is still digesting – that will ultimately prove to be the greatest motivator of his career to date. Though he will say he’s only a prize fighter and winning and losing doesn’t matter, his performances throughout his career suggest there is far more to him than that. 

The mental fortitude required to beat Wladimir Klitschko in 2015, the comeback in 2018, the rise from the deck against Deontay Wilder in fights one and three, the way he fought back against Usyk… nothing really points to a boxer happy to just take the money and run. Fury is acutely aware of what a successful revenge mission will do for both his legacy and contentment in retirement.

“I’ve done everything in boxing, but I ain’t come back from a loss,” Fury said. “I relish the chance to redeem myself. Get up! December 21st is all me. Undisputed here we come.”

Should he achieve that, he’d be well advised to ban camera phones at the celebratory party.