Tyson Fury admitted he is a ‘fat, binge-drinking junk-food addict’ and that his fixation on fighting will probably leave him in a ‘wheelchair’ – but he’s back all the same.
The 37-year-old pounded the punchbag at a training camp in Thailand and went for a beachfront run as he looked to get in shape for another year of boxing.
Fans noticed that his infamous old ‘love handles’ were back – with one branding him ‘fat and hungry’ – as the Gypsy King shared clips from his camp.
Fury has come out of retirement for the fifth time and namechecked Oleksandr Usyk, Fabio Wardley and Anthony Joshua as his three principal targets.
It is likely he would need a warm-up bout against lesser opposition before taking on one of the heavyweight division’s most gilded names but the former unified world champion is ready for the grind.
‘It’s not about the money, although I always want a good deal for sure. It’s mainly about the love of the fight game and the sport. I’m 38 this year, I’m older than a motherf*****, but I have zero other interests, only fighting,’ he said in an Instagram video.
Tyson Fury has raised questions about his physique on his return to boxing training camp
One fan joked he was training for a ‘bufft’ – but the Gypsy King has always defied his doubters
The 37-year-old went for a beachfront run as he looks to get in shape after unretiring for the fifth time
‘I was born and raised to fight. My destiny lies within the fight game. At the end of the game, I’ll be punching a motherf***** and I’ll probably end up in a wheelchair like the rest of them all.
‘Punched to death, don’t know if it’s Tuesday, Wednesday, or December, but it’s the game I chose, it’s the life we chose.
‘This is the life I chose, we ain’t stopping, we ain’t f****** leaving!’
After listing his extensive achievements, he added: ‘Done all of the above as a fat, bald dad, husband, & binge drinker, & junk food addict.’
But some boxing fans feel it is going to be a long way back for the Mancunian menace.
‘Looking like an absolute donut,’ wrote one fan beneath a video of his training camp.
‘What’s he training for? The buffet?’ another joked.
‘Fat and hungry,’ came the verdict of another.
One said: ‘Build up for a local bar fight.’
Another even thought he was unrecognisable, saying: ‘Ain’t no way that’s Fury.’
With any other athlete you might term such comments abuse but Fury has always had a laugh about physique – and punished anyone who has underestimated him.
He told Daily Mail in 2023: ‘It’s good to have a good body. I would love to have a good body. But, I don’t have any hope of having a good body.
‘I have been training for well over 20 years and I still haven’t got a good body. I’ve been in a training camp, living like a monk, for the past 12 weeks and I still don’t have a good body.
‘I didn’t have a good body when I was in my teens, so never mind clocking onto 40 years old. But, the one thing I’ve learnt is this isn’t a bodybuilding contest.
‘Although I don’t look a man who can do long distance or run for 20 miles, I am a man who can do that.
‘I think of myself as an old fashioned kind of guy who can go in there and have a fight, it doesn’t really matter what I look like. It’s about getting the victory.
‘If I had a 10 pack and I looked like Adonis – completely unbelievable and I wasn’t winning, it’s pointless. So I don’t really care about being fat.
One of his potential opponents could be Olesandr Usyk, who beat him twice in 2024
There has also long been talk of a fight with Anthony Joshua though his circumstances have changed
‘I actually embrace being fat because my love handles separate me from the rest of the world, ever in history. There’s never been anyone like me and there never will be.
‘That’s what makes me so tough and that’s what makes me, me. If you said to me, “Right Tyson, we will give you the opportunity to get rid of the fat on you and we will give you a full six pack,” I wouldn’t take it because that’s not me.
‘I am fat now, I was fat as a baby and I will be fat on my death bed. We’re all fat. Hughie is fat, Shane’s fat, my dad’s fat and even my mum’s fat. I hope she’s not watching this. But, we’re a fat family.
‘He trains every day, my brother Hughie, like unbelievable. He’ll run, train, box. I am the same. Two-three times a day, in or out of camp but I’ve always been fat. Even when I got down to 17stone, like this, I still had love handles. It’s my trademark for sure.’
All the same, it is a long way back to champion status for Fury. British fans will be craving a fight against AJ – though his world has been rocked by his recent car crash in Nigeria – but the ultimate test is WBC, WBA and IBF belt‑holder Usyk, who beat him twice in 2024.
