Eddie Hearn Never Believed Fury Would Fight Again
WBC heavyweight champion Tyson “The Gypsy King” Fury (31-0-1, 22ko) is waiting to see who his next opponent will be. However, Fury’s earlier years in the sport saw him suffering a mental breakdown and severe weight gain to the point many believed his career was over. DAZN promoter Eddie Hearn talks about his reason for not signing The Gypsy King years back.
A QUICK LOOK BACK
There was a time when Fury was on top of the mountain after defeating unified champion Wladimir “Dr. Steelhammer” Klitschko in 2015. It was supposed to have been the greatest moment of his life, dethroning Klitschko. The former unified champion had not lost a fight in ten years.
Fury’s celebration was short-lived when rumors of a failed P.E.D (Performance Enhancing Drug) were under investigation by the BBBofC (British Boxing Board of Control) in 2016. Fury would abruptly retire, and things went on a downward spiral afterward. The Gypsy King went into a state of mental depression and eye-popping weight gain that almost reached 400 pounds.
In 2017, Hearn was interested in bringing Fury back to the sport. The Matchroom promoter held hopes of making a huge fight with former unified champion Anthony “AJ” Joshua.
“He needs the right advice. He wants to box on the biggest shows, be a box office fighter, and fight AJ. I can deliver all those things.
“We would be very interested in working with Tyson Fury. We can give him the biggest heavyweight fights and ultimately work towards the biggest fight in British boxing history.”
Fury would eventually overcome his demons, then sign with rival promoter Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions. The road back to the top of the heavyweight mountain started in 2018.
For the first time in three years, the Gypsy King was back. After two warm-up fights, he would take on WBC champion Deontay Wilder. The two men went on to have three classic battles over the next three years, with Fury emerging as the last man standing as champion.
REVISITING THE PAST
During an interview with Boxing Social, Hearn revealed why he did not sign the WBC champion at that time, and he has no regrets about it.
“I honestly never regret anything…With Tyson, I flew him out to Monaco. He was 26 stones (364 pounds), he was sitting where you are, he was sweating, and I just thought to myself: you ain’t never fighting again.”
Hearn would add that the plan was for Fury to have a few fights then step up to Manuel Charr. He stated that if Wilder were part of the plan, he would have jumped all over it. Hearn wants people to know he has a tremendous amount of respect for Fury and made a shocking admission.
“I have a huge amount of respect for Tyson Fury…This is a guy that done certainly what most couldn’t do. I probably couldn’t do which was to get himself from a physical position, where he was finished, done, to not just fighting fit, but to go and win the world heavyweight championship.”
“He has gone on to prove to me that, right now on paper, he’s the number one heavyweight in the world.”
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By: Garrisson Bland
