Tyson Fury is tough to figure out
Boxing’s heavyweight division was once its pride and joy, but now attracts so little interest in the United States that you may not have heard of Tyson Fury, the British fighter who will this Saturday earn more than $5 million while contending for the undisputed world title.
Fury will take on champion Wladimir Klitschko in Dusseldorf, Germany, and while he likely has no better chance than any of the other 21 victims of the giant Ukrainian during a 10-year unbeaten stretch, he has certainly created more of a stir than most.
The 6-9 power puncher turned up for one recent press conference in a Batman suit, jogged laps around room, then wrestled on the floor with a man he hired to turn up clad as The Joker.
On another occasion, he tried to sniff Klitschko as the pair faced off for a photo opportunity. This week, he serenaded his bemused opponent with an amended version of Bette Midler’s “Wind Beneath My Wings,”painfully altering the lyrics to “I’ll be the one with all the belts.”
Odd behavior in the build up to major fights is nothing new, and boxers will go to extremes to hype their contests with the intent of generating extra attention and a more lucrative brand.
Rarely does Fury meet a microphone he doesn’t like, peppering interviews with bizarre and often incendiary comments.
In small doses, it could be seen as standard boxing fare, but in Fury’s case no one is quite sure if the way he goes about his business is an eccentric brand of marketing savvy, something more sinister or a cause for serious concern.
For the 27-year-old from Manchester has spoken in the past of suffering from severe depression and suicidal thoughts, even during the most successful periods of his 24-fight unbeaten career.
He then attracted significant outrage earlier this year, ranting incoherently in a diatribe where he appeared to describe homophobia and abortion as sins on a similar scale to pedophilia, leading to predictable scorn and anger aimed in his direction.
Followed soon after by the Batman stuff, it led to some commentators wondering if Fury had mental health issues that were ongoing.
No one quite seems to know, but this is boxing, and nothing is allowed to get in the way of a lucrative show. Fury has his boxing license and therefore, as per the rules, he can and will box, never mind that it is against the most dangerous and dominant man in the sport’s biggest and most punishing division.
Whatever happens in the ring — and history suggests a comfortable Klitschko win – it remains to be seen if we are any nearer to discovering if Fury is a badass, a bad guy, or a man badly in need of help.