Tyson Fury believes he will be a ‘different person’ after pandemic

LONDON: 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 told talkSPORT: “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.”