Tyson Fury Declares Himself ‘The Greatest Fighter Of My Era’

Hear what Tyson Fury had to say at the Fury vs. Wilder 3 post-fight press conference after winning his fight in the 11th round via KO.

We witnessed a true heavyweight boxing classic on Saturday night as Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder both gave everything they had and turned their third meeting into a back and forth war. Both men ended up down on the canvas twice and both men got back up. In the 11th round Tyson Fury found another gear to switch into and backed Wilder across the ring with uppercuts before hitting him with a big right that left “The Bronze Bomber” down on the canvas for good (watch the highlights and KO finish here.

Following the epic bout at the Fury vs. Wilder 3 post-fight press conference, Tyson Fury had some thoughts about how his 2-0-1 series with Deontay Wilder went.

“I’ve not had a chance to look at the fight yet, but I anticipate it was a good fight,” he said with a smile. “We were both down a few times and it was edge of the seat stuff. Could have swung either way. But when it comes down to it, when I have to put the chips down, I’ve delivered 33 times in a row. And I’ve never let anyone down, I’ve always given it me all, I gave 100% tonight.”

“I came into this fight thinking ‘You can only do your best in life and whatever’s written in the stars for you is going to be. I trained hard, I dedicated me life, and I got the victory tonight and I just want to say thank you to God and thank you to all me team and all that, and it was a great time.”

“But I’ve been home for two weeks out of the last six months. I just had a little daughter born. Didn’t have the best preparations in camp. But I don’t make excuses, you know? I came here as fit as a fiddle and as strong as an ox. So it was what it was. But now I’m going to go home and regroup and spend some time — some well earned time — with me kids and me wife. And that’s that.”

“But without this man next to me, Sugar Hill. The big dawg! I wouldn’t have knocked him out tonight,” Fury added. “He was like to me, in 9, 10, and 11, ‘Get this big beet out of here! Stop messing around.’ He was like ‘The big dog gets him out late!’ And he pushed me to knock him out. He really did.”

When asked about how bad the two knockdowns Wilder landed on him in the fourth, Fury didn’t seem too concerned. He was on shaky legs immediately after but managed to get his movement back on track a round later in the fifth and then didn’t lose another round according to the three judges ringside. So what was he thinking when he almost lost everything in the fourth?

“Not a great deal,” Fury laughed. “You go swimming, you’re going to get wet. You play with fire long enough you’ll get burned. I’ve had three fights with the biggest puncher in the history of my sport, in my division. And he caught me. He caught me twice in the fourth round. But I was never thinking ‘Aw, this is over.’ I was thinking ‘Okay, good shot. But I will get you back in a minute.’ And I did.”

“I was very conscious, I saw the ref go ‘3, 4…’ and I was always there, you know? He shook me, he put me down, and that’s boxing. And it’s life as well, it’s not about how many times you get put down or how many times you lose, it’s about how you come back and can keep getting up and keep moving forward. Like Rocky said. You gotta keep moving forward in a positive manner and keep fighting. Not just in a boxing fight but in life as well, because nothing’s ever going to be easy.”

As for where the fight placed him in the history of heavyweight champions?

“I’ve always been one of those people that says I can never fight people from the past,” Tyson said. “So I never disrespect anybody. I can only beat whoever’s in my era, and I’ve done that me whole life. I don’t like competing with other fights from the past because it’s fantasy. It’s not reality. And I wouldn’t like to disrespect any ofthe former champions from a long long line of champions in heavyweight, even from when heavyweights were like 185 pounds, right til today. I’d never disrespect them, I respect the sport with my whole heart.”

“Let’s just say I’m the lineal champ of my era, and I can only be the best of my day. And I’ve done that. I’m the best fighter in my era. I’m the generation fighter. I actually feel sorry for all these guys who have to fight me because I’m in the dressing room, I’m not nervous. It’s a boxing fight to me. I feel sorry for them because they’re fighting the fighter of the generation, that’s for sure.”

“There’s a long line of ‘em and they go all the way back to John L. Sullivan. Jack Dempsey, Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Muhammad Ali, George Forman. Ken Norton, Joe Frazier. All these guys. The Klitchsko brothers. There’s been so many, so many great champions. Even the guys from today like Anthony Joshua and Alexander Usyk and everybody else, they’re all good champions.”

“But without sounding too sharp and clever, I place me self right on top of the pile. I believe that I can beat anyone in the history, any man born, I believe I’ve got a really good chance of beating him. There’s always a way of beating Tyson Fury and I’ve always said it very very clearly: you just gotta knock me spark out. If you can’t do that, I’ll win. And that’s it. But like I said, I can only be the best in my era, and I’m definitely that.”

When it came to Deontay Wilder, Fury and his coach were pretty respectful given the acrimonious lead up, both legal and personal, to this third fight.

“Very improved, he worked on his boxing stuff,” Fury said. “It was a different fight. He was a much different fighter from fight two, and a much different fight from fight one. He came in real heavy tonight, like 238 pounds, and I believe that helped him. And he was definitely hitting solid. But you know what? I thought that we fought out there, and all the allegations that they made towards me throughout the buildup to this fight… we fought like two warriors in there. And I went over to shake his hand and say well done and he was like ‘No, I don’t respect you.’”

“I was like ‘How can you say I’ve cheated when you know in your own heart and your full team knows that you just got beat fair and square. So it’s just like he’s a sore loser in boxing, I’m sure he’s not the first one and he won’t be the last one. But I’ve acted like a gentleman throughout my career and that’s all I can do as a man.”

As for what’s next, Fury refused to commit to anything but time with his family.

“We’ll see,” he said when asked if he’d fight Alexander Usyk next to unify the heavyweight belts. “I’ve just earned a well earned break from everything. I’ve been away from my family for six months. I’ve been home two weeks in the last six months. So before I start thinking about fighting all the men, I’m going to bask in this victory.”

“Tonight was one of my greatest wins. I got off the floor to do it and I’m the big dog in the division. I’m probably one of the heaviest heavyweight champions in history tonight. 277 pounds, and I was fit, I was strong and I felt good. We’ll just see what today brings and tomorrow as well.”