‘I’m Back To Make Boxing Great Again.’ With that rallying cry from the Donald Trump playbook, Tyson Fury exploded from the cocoon of his fifth retirement and on to the huge stage upon which he will fight again come April 11.
‘In the 14 months I’ve been away boxing has been in a stupor,’ proclaimed the Gypsy King, who has been living in exile in the Isle of Man and training in Thailand. ‘No charisma. No personalities. Dying. No. Dead.’
The brutal truth is that it is virtually impossible to argue with him. Oleksandr Usyk has been carrying the flagship heavyweight division with precious little support.
And the biggest ring event of the past year by far has been the celebrity crossover circus extravaganza manufactured by YouTube’s Jake Paul and the now distraught Anthony Joshua
That drew 60 million Netflix subscribers and only now is that streaming giant venturing into a fight in the UK. In pursuit of the man who remains prize fighting’s main attraction.
Tyson was suitably sporting that network’s tie and made no bones about it as he said: ‘They’re only here because of me. Artificial Intelligence has just declared that boxing can only reach its maximum potential with me in action ‘
Tyson Fury and his Russian opponent size each other up at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Framed against the empty vastness which is the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on a wet Monday afternoon in midwinter, Fury looked fitter and healthier than he has done since the last of his epic trilogy of championship fights with Deontay Wilder.
The 7ft shape has been trimmed ‘by 30lbs in as many days’ in the Far East.
The sheen on his face and the piercing sparkle in the eyes have been restored by the excitement of doing what he loves.
Of the sojourn in Thailand he says: ‘It was out there in December that I made the decision to make another comeback.
‘The sunshine rejuvenated me. It’s turned back my biological clock 10 years. From 37 to 27.
‘I’d cleared my head with some zen which made me see how much I’d been missing the spotlight. Told me that boxing will be part of me forever.
‘That for a fighting man punching people in the face and being paid a bucketload of money for doing it is the dream job. And it reminded me just how much boxing has been missing me.’
With that void in mind he promised: ‘This comeback is not just a one off. I’ve got a whole calendar lined up for three big fights this year alone, including this one.’
The last of those could be the long overdue Battle of Britain with Joshua: ‘If and when he can recover from the horrible trauma of losing two great friends in that deadly car crash.’
With or without AJ , Fury has a higher target: ‘Yes, I will become world heavyweight champion for a third time. Simply because I always achieve everything I seriously put my mind to.’
That includes beating his upcoming opponent Arslanbek Makhmudov, a powerful Russian who not only has more than a score of knock outs on his record but also a reputation for wrestling with bears in the woods outside Moscow.
Fury will face Arslanbek Makhmudov, a powerful Russian who has several knockouts on his record
He says: ‘Fury is another huge challenge which I welcome. He is a big champion and a great boxer but I sense this is my moment, my destiny. ‘
To which Fury responded thus: ‘Yes, he’s dangerous but if I’d been fighting a pudding I wouldn’t have been inspired to prepare this fully.
‘And unlike the bears I will box his ears off and knock him out with a big right hand. Probably in the sixth round.’
The Gypsy King predicted that the Fury clan’s X Factor – his and Simon Cowell’s words – will now resume enlivening boxing for decades to come.
His sons and nephews are embarking on their ring careers and Tyson says of watching the debut of young Prince: ‘As God said, “This is my son with whom I am well pleased”.’
There speaks a devout Catholic ahead of Ash Wednesday. It will not have escaped his attention that his own fifth coming takes place at Easter.
Welcome back, the giant who knows that ‘for mortals like me boxing remains imbedded on our souls eternally’.
The only Fury-ous shenanigans at the open press conference were whipped up by his father John screaming in vain his desire for a sideshow punch-up with retired former world champion and occasional Tyson critic, Carl Froch.
From Fury himself came wisdom of of the ages. For that and his usual thrills and showmanship 70,000 believers will flock to this football ground some eights weeks from now.
