admin A few days before Tyson Fury takes on rookie boxer (and former UFC champ) Francis Ngannou, the world heavyweight boxing champ is feeling feisty. The nearly warm and fuzzy promotional meetups, where Fury seemed almost affectionate toward the less experienced fighter, are a distant memory. He has now shifted his mindset into kill mode, as he prepares to separate his opponent’s body from his being to the tune of a reported $50 million payday.
With seven children and a legacy to look after, the fighter is all business these days. Tyson Fury the wildman is gone (mostly). These days, the champ says he is living his dream, and approaches every fight with the cool and calculating mind of a professional. He says he only fights for a “shit ton of money”—but it doesn’t take much reading between the lines to hear him bristle when asked how he’d fare against fighters from other disciplines, and under different rule sets. These are fights that we may soon see as he rather strongly alludes to an MMA rubber match with Ngannou, who himself is listed as the world’s hardest puncher. Whether Fury can take the easy money and keep gliding on a path he feels is destined will be answered this Saturday in Riyadh.
GQ: Let’s get right to it—what’s the biggest animal you could beat in a fight?
Tyson Fury: I think probably a chihuahua. I don’t know if I could even beat that to be honest.
So you don’t think you could beat up a bear?
Against a bear I’d instantly fall on the floor and die. I don’t like to fight animals. First, they don’t have any combat skills, and second they didn’t do anything to me. I like to fight men, and I like to punch their faces in.
Speaking of which, everybody thinks you are going to smash Ngannou in boxing, but who wins that fight in a dark alley?
Me, because I’d have a pair of runners on and I’d get on up out of there as fast as I could. I don’t fight in dark alleys, I only fight for shit tons of money.
OK, so what if they paid you a shit ton of money to fight Frances in an MMA cage?
Well, we’ll find out soon enough. I’m not worried about his takedowns, so the fight goes like this: jab, jab, right, slip, uppercut, right, game over.
In the promotional material I’ve seen it seems like you have a real respect and admiration for Frances. Is that fair to say?
No, I think he is a big fat sausage and I’m going to knock him out. I was more generous with him in the past, but now I’ve switched on him.
Why’d you change your mind? Did he do something?
No, I’m just getting into fight mode. I don’t know him well enough to like him or dislike him. But I am going to knock him out. And I’m doing it for $50 million. Anybody would take any fight for $50 million. Wouldn’t you fight me for 50 million?
I don’t know, man, you’re a pretty big dude.
You’d fight me for $50 million, of course you would. What’s the worst that could happen?
I could die.
You’re not gonna die—it’s a boxing match.
OK, I’d take the fight if you’re offering.
I’m not. Listen, Frances is doing this fight to make $10 million. That’s more than he ever made in his whole career combined. It’s a snatch and run by Frances for sure.
You and Frances both come from humble backgrounds. Is there anything about him making that kind of money off this fight that makes you feel good?
Nothing about Frances making money makes me feel good. He is getting paid well and I hope he invests well. Ten million goes fast if you don’t spend it properly. You can blow ten quickly. I hope Frances pays his taxes straight away and invests wisely. If you do that you can make a good income.
You talk like a man who has been rich for a while.
I’ve never been rich and I still ain’t rich. I’m very sensible with my money. I don’t waste it on shiny things, I invest it and I always have done that.
Some of your suits are pretty shiny, though. Where do you get them?
I do wear some shiny, glittery things. I get it from my clothing sponsor Claudio Lugli. He has been designing my gear since 2014. He takes my inspirational quotes and he designs whatever he can with them. He puts me in some absolutely showstopping stuff that’s for sure.
If you could be great at any other fighting discipline what would it be?
I wouldn’t want to do any other discipline. If I wanted to, I would have done it. I’ve wanted to be a boxer and a champion all my life. I am living my dream, and I have been for the past 15 years.
Have you heard of Gordon Ryan, the jiu jitsu champion? I skipped jiu jitsu practice to do this interview, so I need to ask this question.
Well thank you, I know how you jiu jitsu guys are about practice. And yeah, I know who he is—silver-haired guy.
If you went into a fight with just your boxing, and he came with just his jiu jitsu, who wins?
Let me tell you this. I don’t believe any man alive could beat me in a no-holds-barred fight, because I will do whatever it takes to win. I’ll bite off your eyes, I’ll bite off your ears, I’ll take out your eyes.
OK, but not a street fight, let’s say it’s an MMA match.
Give me the time to train and pay me enough money and I’ll beat any man alive. It won’t matter the discipline. But really what you’re doing here is trying to compare a monster truck to a Ferrari.
Which one are you?
I’m both.
When’s the last time you were scared?
Every day. Every day I’m scared. I get scared that I’m not going to be a good parent. I get scared that you never know what’s going to happen in this world. I get scared about my kids, and my family, and their future.
You have seven kids. Do any of them box? Do you want them to go the same route as you, or do something easier on the body?
Two of them box, a 12 year old and a 7 year old. They don’t have any fights yet, though. I think all my kids will have to learn how to fight at some stage, because if you can’t fight in this life you’re going to get fucked over. You gotta fight in the workplace, you gotta fight in your relationships, you have to fight everywhere, or you’ll never succeed in life.
I think it should inspire him to do well and work hard and take his opportunities where he gets them. These influencers are growing the sport and getting more and more eyes on boxing. It’s getting bigger and bigger, and when these YouTubers are done fighting the real boxers can fight and it will be a larger audience. A lot of boxers don’t like YouTubers, they’re jealous of how much money they make. But there’s no point to that. You need to concentrate on your own goals, your own dreams. Don’t watch it on social media. If your screen time at the end of the day says seven hours, well that’s time you could have been reading a book, or training jiu jitsu, or doing something else productive for yourself.
Do you think Frances is scared of you?
No. At 6’4” 275 pounds and an MMA champ, he shouldn’t be scared of anyone. Truthfully I think he can’t believe his lucky stars. Ten million dollars for your pro debut? He is a lucky guy. But I should say, there is no such thing as luck. I believe in destiny. He is supposed to be here and get his money, so congratulations to the guy. But I’m still going to punch his face in.
