Tyson Fury has fuelled intrigue about his physical condition by insisting that his weight “doesn’t matter” ahead of the world title fight against Deontay Wilder.
The British star weighed in at 19st 7lbs for his rematch victory over Wilder last February, 16.5lbs heavier than for their first fight, which ended in a draw in December 2018.
But Fury has played down the significance of Friday night’s weigh-in ahead of his third WBC heavyweight title fight against Wilder in Las Vegas this weekend.
“It doesn’t matter – weight, size, anything like that to beat anybody,” Fury told Sky Sports.
“You can weigh 14 stone and knock a man spark out, a 25 stone man. It doesn’t really matter, the weight.
“I’m not aiming for a specific weight.
“I’m just eating plenty of food. I’ve trained hard enough and that’s it.
“Whatever I weigh in on the night, I weigh in at.”
Wilder had tipped the scales at a career-high 16st 7lbs for their second fight, 17.5lbs heavier than in their first bout.
But Oleksandr Usyk, a former cruiserweight champion, recently overcame his disadvantages in size and weight to defeat unified champion Anthony Joshua on points.
Asked about his own fear of defeat, Fury has told Sky Sports, “Failure is not an option. I’ve just got to go in there and do what I do best. That’s it. No more, no less.
“What’s meant to be in life, will be and what’s not meant to be, won’t be.
“I’m going in there, I’ve done all my training, the rest is in God’s hands.
“Fate will be fate. You can’t escape it, no matter what we do in life.
“Everything happens in life for a reason and I’ve come this far, and I’m still continuing up this road, so we’ll see where it takes me.”
Wilder has called this weekend’s fight a “defining moment for me and my career.”
He said: “I had a lot of feelings leading up to my last outing and we are looking forward to retaliation. Retribution is upon us.”
Both fighters have threatened knockouts during this week’s preparations, but Wilder said he won’t remain too focused on that one game plan.
“The goal is always to knock him out,” he said. “I don’t go in just to win.
“But I’m not going to set my mind on just going in to knock him out. Sometimes when I do that and I focus on one thing, it overclouds my mind to the point where I can’t think. Sometimes when your mind is clouded, you can make bad judgement and bad decisions.
“When you’re calm you can make better decisions. That’s what I’ve been doing throughout camp. That’s why I’ve had such a calm and mellow spirit about myself.
“It’s been that way for the last 20 months. That’s just how I am and I like this person. I’m not wasting too much energy, I’m not saying too much. I don’t want to use all my energy, I want to reserve it for Saturday night so I can give the fans what they want to see.” (Punch)
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