Tyson Fury and the Weight of the Heavyweight Crown
Tyson Fury and the Weight of the Heavyweight Crown
Tyson Fury's behavior since he won the title in November of last year has turned from silly and outlandish to troublesome.
An old saying in boxing states that winning a championship belt automatically makes a fighter better. It's more of a gym semi-truth than anything with real meaning though, because all fighters have different reactions to the fame and celebrity that comes with becoming a champion. Whereas some champions gear up to defend the title, others embrace the lifestyle they can suddenly afford.
Heavyweights are physiologically no different from other fighters, but the heavyweight title carries with it the loftiest of expectations and a storied history. The title itself has been known to break men in half. James "Buster" Douglas and Leon Spinks were rapidly swallowed up by the heavyweight title, and champion Tyson Fury's disturbing social media posts since news broke that he tested positive for cocaine suggest he'll soon be joining them.
It's not yet clear what the nature of Fury's drug use is, or whether allegations that he tested positive for an anabolic steroid in 2015 are true, but his behavior since winning the title in November of last year has turned from silly and outlandish to troublesome. He went from dressing up like Batman to get laughs at a press conference, to having to apologize for several racist, homophobic and sexist rants.
One of the focuses of Fury's recent grumbling has been the frequent social media abuse he feels that he endures due to his gypsy background.
"[Gypsies are] considered as being no better than dirt on people's shoes," Fury told Boxing News in 2013. "We can be shoved around because of those views. We can be abused because we have no rights."
Then a few weeks after winning the title, Fury told IFL TV, "A woman's best place is in the kitchen and on her back, that's my personal belief. Making me a good cup of tea."
Fury also swelled to the size of his own inflated ego in gaining over 60 pounds. Finally, about one week ago, he called off his rematch with Wladimir Klitschko after being declared "mentally unfit" to fight. It hardly seems like the behavior of a man who climbed the ranks singing post-fight ditties, all the while orchestrating his seizure of the heavyweight crown. If he wasn't always this unstable, what went wrong?
In July of 1978, Bruce Newman wrote for Sports Illustrated, "Last month, while Leon [Spinks] was dancing in a discotheque with quarters jammed in his ears, [Muhammad] Ali was in Moscow, deep in conversation with Leonid Brezhnev at the Kremlin." Spinks was arrested five times in the months after he defeated Ali for the title, his most serious offense being possession of cocaine in St. Louis. He'd never had his life together, but the heavyweight title accelerated his downward spiral and he gave the title back to Ali in their rematch.
Likewise "Buster" Douglas, who stopped an undefeated Mike Tyson to win the title in 1990, lost it in his first defense. Evander Holyfield may never have been denied the title the night he took it from Douglas, but Douglas' weight got out of control after winning the title and the money only seemed to amplify the sorrow caused by his mother's death. Going from nondescript contender to an overnight sensation was more than he could manage.
But Fury is smarter than Spinks, and though his uncle and trainer Hughie's death in 2014 was a personal tragedy, it didn't seem to be the kind of cataclysmic event Douglas suffered. Still, it could have added to the pressure of being the champion and it gotten to him, eroding the buffer between Fury and recklessness.
A few months after he defeated Ali and became a national hero to all inner city knuckleheads who dreamed of becoming...anything, Spinks' wife Nova told People magazine, "From the moment Leon won the championship, it's been hell. Have you ever seen two or three dogs pulling on a rag? Well, Leon's the rag."
In addition to his contemptible remarks, Fury has contradicted himself in many of the Klitschko rematch's press conferences that he bothered to attend.
Shortly after the rematch was scheduled in April of this year, Fury told Sky Sports, "My desire is back. I've got that fire back in me. It's not the desire to go and win belts, but it's a desire to keep them."
One week later, the champion told FightNews, "I hope Wladimir can take his belts back on the ninth of July... I've only been on top of the world for five months, and I'm already sick of it."
Back in 2014 just after his uncle Hughie's death, Fury admitted he turned to alcohol and became despondent, perhaps implying a predisposition to suffering from depression. The tricky part, then, is figuring out if Fury is collecting on a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy or if all the title brought with it was too heavy a burden for Fury to bear either way.
As far as he went in boxing, the clip of Fury accidentally punching himself in the face while fighting Lee Swaby in 2009 has become oddly representative of his career. But back then the self-flagellation was more funny than sad. Now the stakes are higher, and Fury is sinking quickly.
The heavyweight division has been in a constant state of looking for a savior since Ali faded out as the 1980s began, whether it actually needed one or not. Decades later, it's still searching. But until he can straighten out his issues, Tyson Fury clearly can't be it.
Heavyweights are physiologically no different from other fighters, but the heavyweight title carries with it the loftiest of expectations and a storied history. The title itself has been known to break men in half. James "Buster" Douglas and Leon Spinks were rapidly swallowed up by the heavyweight title, and champion Tyson Fury's disturbing social media posts since news broke that he tested positive for cocaine suggest he'll soon be joining them.
It's not yet clear what the nature of Fury's drug use is, or whether allegations that he tested positive for an anabolic steroid in 2015 are true, but his behavior since winning the title in November of last year has turned from silly and outlandish to troublesome. He went from dressing up like Batman to get laughs at a press conference, to having to apologize for several racist, homophobic and sexist rants.
One of the focuses of Fury's recent grumbling has been the frequent social media abuse he feels that he endures due to his gypsy background.
"[Gypsies are] considered as being no better than dirt on people's shoes," Fury told Boxing News in 2013. "We can be shoved around because of those views. We can be abused because we have no rights."
Then a few weeks after winning the title, Fury told IFL TV, "A woman's best place is in the kitchen and on her back, that's my personal belief. Making me a good cup of tea."
Fury also swelled to the size of his own inflated ego in gaining over 60 pounds. Finally, about one week ago, he called off his rematch with Wladimir Klitschko after being declared "mentally unfit" to fight. It hardly seems like the behavior of a man who climbed the ranks singing post-fight ditties, all the while orchestrating his seizure of the heavyweight crown. If he wasn't always this unstable, what went wrong?
In July of 1978, Bruce Newman wrote for Sports Illustrated, "Last month, while Leon [Spinks] was dancing in a discotheque with quarters jammed in his ears, [Muhammad] Ali was in Moscow, deep in conversation with Leonid Brezhnev at the Kremlin." Spinks was arrested five times in the months after he defeated Ali for the title, his most serious offense being possession of cocaine in St. Louis. He'd never had his life together, but the heavyweight title accelerated his downward spiral and he gave the title back to Ali in their rematch.
Likewise "Buster" Douglas, who stopped an undefeated Mike Tyson to win the title in 1990, lost it in his first defense. Evander Holyfield may never have been denied the title the night he took it from Douglas, but Douglas' weight got out of control after winning the title and the money only seemed to amplify the sorrow caused by his mother's death. Going from nondescript contender to an overnight sensation was more than he could manage.
But Fury is smarter than Spinks, and though his uncle and trainer Hughie's death in 2014 was a personal tragedy, it didn't seem to be the kind of cataclysmic event Douglas suffered. Still, it could have added to the pressure of being the champion and it gotten to him, eroding the buffer between Fury and recklessness.
A few months after he defeated Ali and became a national hero to all inner city knuckleheads who dreamed of becoming...anything, Spinks' wife Nova told People magazine, "From the moment Leon won the championship, it's been hell. Have you ever seen two or three dogs pulling on a rag? Well, Leon's the rag."
In addition to his contemptible remarks, Fury has contradicted himself in many of the Klitschko rematch's press conferences that he bothered to attend.
Shortly after the rematch was scheduled in April of this year, Fury told Sky Sports, "My desire is back. I've got that fire back in me. It's not the desire to go and win belts, but it's a desire to keep them."
One week later, the champion told FightNews, "I hope Wladimir can take his belts back on the ninth of July... I've only been on top of the world for five months, and I'm already sick of it."
Back in 2014 just after his uncle Hughie's death, Fury admitted he turned to alcohol and became despondent, perhaps implying a predisposition to suffering from depression. The tricky part, then, is figuring out if Fury is collecting on a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy or if all the title brought with it was too heavy a burden for Fury to bear either way.
As far as he went in boxing, the clip of Fury accidentally punching himself in the face while fighting Lee Swaby in 2009 has become oddly representative of his career. But back then the self-flagellation was more funny than sad. Now the stakes are higher, and Fury is sinking quickly.
The heavyweight division has been in a constant state of looking for a savior since Ali faded out as the 1980s began, whether it actually needed one or not. Decades later, it's still searching. But until he can straighten out his issues, Tyson Fury clearly can't be it.