Sport

Tyson Fury vows to emerge as a 'different person' from coronavirus crisis

Deontay Wilder (left) and Tyson Fury during their WBC heavyweight title clash in February. Fury has vowed to emerge as a "different person" from the coronavirus crisis
Deontay Wilder (left) and Tyson Fury during their WBC heavyweight title clash in February. Fury has vowed to emerge as a "different person" from the coronavirus crisis Deontay Wilder (left) and Tyson Fury during their WBC heavyweight title clash in February. Fury has vowed to emerge as a "different person" from the coronavirus crisis

TYSON Fury has vowed to emerge as a "different person" from the coronavirus crisis and admitted the ongoing pandemic has put his future in boxing into perspective.

Fury, who has fought a well-documented battle with mental health issues, says talk of a third meeting with Deontay Wilder must be put on hold as priority is given to coming through the current lockdown.

Fury said: "You can take positives out of every negative, and the positive I can take out of this one is that I get to spend a lot more time with my family.

"People are really realising now what's important in life. Sometimes we get lost in the ride of life, thinking about our ambitions and everything - and we forget about the really important things - families, friends, loved-ones, health.

"It has awoken me because I was one of those people who fell victim to that, always chasing stuff and always wanting to do big things, I was never happy sitting at home and I wanted to go out and be active.

"In the couple of weeks I've been locked down I've had time to focus on the things that really matter in my life. I think I'll come back a different person and I think I'll have a different mindset."

Beside family affairs, Fury has been posting fitness sessions on his Instagram account and sharing viral clips with other fighters, including former WBO champion Joseph Parker in a bid to lift his fans' spirits.

And, despite managing to maintain some semblance of his normal training regime including a daily four-mile run, Fury admitted the build-up to a third fight with Wilder is far from his mind.

"The world is in a very uncertain way at the moment and the last thing people are focusing on is boxing or sport - I'm not really thinking about boxing or Wilder or anybody," he added.

"It seems a lifetime ago that I did my job and went out with the fans, to come back and have 10 days at home and then the whole world stopped.

"It is like something off one of those horror movies. It is real and we have to face up to it and listen to the government. The more people stay in, the more the virus will go away."

Meanwhile, Fury has accepted a challenge from Drew McIntyre for a WWE match.

The Gypsy King won his debut fight in professional wrestling, beating Braun Strowman in Saudi Arabia in October.

McIntyre called out Fury after beating Brock Lesnar to become the first British WWE champion at WrestleMania 36 on Sunday and the boxer is up for the challenge.

Fury wrote on Instagram: "@dmcintyrewwe has call me out after his @wwe Wrestlemania 36 victory, first I say congratulations and what a fantastic job. Secondly I accept his challenge, anytime any place, anywhere."

THE European Boxing Confederation has postponed all European competitions until August because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

These include the European Schoolboy/girls Championships, which was scheduled for June/July in Belfast, and the European Men’s and Women’s Youth and Junior Championships scheduled for Montenegro and Georgia.

“I would like to announce that following the spread of Covid-19, the security measures taken by European countries and your replies to the letter, in which we asked for your views on the EUBC 2020 Calendar, the EUBC Executive Committee has taken the decision to stop all EUBC Championships scheduled until August 2020,” EUBC President Franci Falcinelli confirmed.

“I firmly believe that this decision is necessary to protect the health of our athletes and coaches.”

The EUBC will continue to monitor the situation in relation to the coronavirus outbreak.

Boxing2020 – EUBC Championships Situation due to Covid-19

The European Schoolboy/girls Championships was initially scheduled to begin in Belfast on June 30.

Irish boxing has claimed medals at every European Schools event since the inaugural tournament in Rome in 2003 where ex two-weight world champion Carl Frampton won silver.

THE qualification period for boxing and all other sports for Tokyo 2021 has been extended to June 29 next year following the postponement of Tokyo 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The Olympic Games were due to begin this July in Tokyo but were adjourned and will start in the Japanese capital on July 23, 2021.

112, including Irish captain Brendan Irvine, have qualified for Tokyo 2021 following the completion of the African, Asia/Oceania and partially finished European event.

The remainder of the European qualifiers and the Americas route, followed by the final World qualifier in Paris, will be decided at dates to be confirmed.

The IOC plans to finalise the adapted qualification systems by mid-April of this year, according to reports.

286 boxers – 186 males and 100 females – will compete at Tokyo 2021 across eight weights classes for men and five for women.

So far, 39 per cent of boxers have qualified worldwide, or forty-four per cent, taking into account the six host places for Japan and eight invitation places.

Fifty-seven per cent of the 11,000 athletes in all sports had qualified for Tokyo 2020 before the postponement of the Games.

THE impending Olympic lockdown weighed heavy on the mind of Galal Yafai when he entered the ring in London last month seeking the win that would confirm his place at Tokyo 2020.

The qualifying tournament was only hours from being abandoned and the Birmingham flyweight knew defeat to Russia's Rasul Saliev would likely hurl his dreams of reaching his second Games into a months-long purgatory.

Yafai duly got the job done before the inevitable shutdown arrived - and now has plenty of time on his hands in his Solihull apartment to consider his build-up to Tokyo which has now been put on hold for 12 months.

Yafai said: "I was told on my way to the fight that the tournament was going to be done after this, so it put a bit more pressure on me to go out there and finish it off.

"I knew if anything happened it could be months before I got another chance, and I could have been sitting at home now not having qualified, wondering what is going to happen.

"I'm gutted for all my team-mates who never got that chance. We've been through a training camp in Kazakhstan and to go through all that training then get told at the last minute that it's all for nothing."

Yafai's team-mate Peter McGrail was the second British boxer to qualify before the tournament was suspended. It is envisaged that it will resume at the same stage when it it is safe to do so.

Yafai had squeezed into the GB squad for the 2016 Games in Rio and was beaten by the eventual bronze medallist in his second bout, but his subsequent consistency, including Commonwealth Games title on the Gold Coast, has seen him emerge as one of the strongest prospects for a medal in Tokyo.

However, for the time being at least, Yafai finds himself severely restricted in his training regime, and resorting to long PlayStation battles with his brothers Kal and Gamal, who have had their respective professional careers put on hold.

"I've got no facilities at all so I can't really do much apart from body circuits and morning runs, and GB Boxing are sending me a bike," added Yafai.

"My brothers are locked down in their own places as well so we're trying to keep positive playing FIFA.

"It's a real frustration that we've got to wait another 12 months for Tokyo, but it's got to be put in perspective. At least I've booked my place there, and we're all in the same boat."