It would undoubtedly be a loss to the sport, but given what he has told me about the pressures of the sport and what it takes out of those involved it is understandable. There has been fresh impetus into the Fury camp recently though as Tyson’s dad and Peter’s brother, John Fury, has finished a sentence in jail and is now fully involved in the team’s preparation. So how is it now that John Fury, a man who was involved in the formative years of Tyson’s career, is able to be involved? “John's my brother foremost and it's lovely to have him around, there's nobody like your own family. I'm over the moon to have John back and it's much better for Tyson to have his dad there. I think back to when I was in the camps when John was in prison and I would think that as much as I'm Tyson's uncle, I'm not his dad. Nobody takes the place of your father, you dad's your dad. I'm over the moon, one, for my brother to be with his son and two, for Tyson to be with his dad. That for me is the icing on the cake, it's all good for both Hughie and Tyson. John being out, it's a very good thing for the family, it helps on all fronts. Tyson has all of his family around now, it's good for him and it's good for me as well.”
There is a story in boxing that Tyson turned down large amounts of TV money while has father was in prison just so that he could continue to fight on Channel 5, and allow his dad to watch his fights on the limited TV channels available to him. I ask Peter whether this is a true story or urban myth? “It is true! He wanted his dad to see all of his fights and his dad never really missed any, he saw them on Channel Five. He's done quite a lot of special things Tyson while he's been a boxer. The way he stuck with Mick Hennessy, the way Mick stuck with Tyson. It's a story beyond belief as Mick said himself, when he lost the ITV deal all his boxers went running for cover and abandoned him. Tyson told him that he was happy to fight for nothing, that he'd wait and they would go forwards together. When you are loyal and good hearted, just look what can happen. I would never like anyone to say about my family that when the going got tough they jumped off the boat. Tyson stayed through thick and thin with Mick, and Mick with us. It's an honour and a privilege to look back on it to be honest.”
One of the other “special things” that Tyson has done was, when in full training camp for Wladimir Klitschko, he posted his own mobile phone number on Twitter and invited his fans to phone him up and ask him any questions. It was a beyond unique idea, not done to generate money or a publicity stunt, it was something borne from a playful exchange with his wife who happened to post his number. Being a man of his word, Tyson took the phone calls for over an hour. Not just that, he decided that as fans enjoyed it so much he would do it on numerous occasions over the following weeks. Do such actions worry Peter that they may distract from the preparation for Tyson? “It's not for me to dictate what he does on anything, I can't tell him what to do. Tyson is his own man. Whatever he does outside of boxing, whoever he speaks to, it's none of my business. He does his own thing, he's a married man with children. All of what he does, all of his instant reactions both good and bad, he does them all himself. He's his own man and his own personality. He does do a lot of good stuff and as soon as he says the odd bad word everybody seems to jump all over it, especially now he's world champion.”
Of course, such actions as these or inviting the people of Morecambe to come and train with him in the morning as he jogged along the towns seafront do not meet the narrative of the mass media, don’t generate the same headlines as instead they choose to twist words into negatives. Away from those headlines there has also been the issue of the world governing bodies making a farce of their belts. The IBF stripped Tyson of his hard fought title without having defended it, citing that he had a mandatory defence to make against their contender. A contractual rematch with Klitschko ruled Fury out of the fight, so they took their belt back. The WBA have recently announced plans to consolidate their three world titles at heavyweight (regular, interim and super) via a strung out tournament. Previously on Twitter Peter had clarified that the tournament wasn’t of interest to the Fury camp, so is that still the case? “The belts? I'm not too bothered. As far as I'm concerned, Tyson is the lineal champion, he's got a tall order ahead of himself again as he's fighting the best man in the world. Wladimir Klitschko is better than all the other heavyweights out there, he's the man at the top and it's no foregone conclusion for Tyson in the rematch. This is a serious fight, just as serious as the first one if not more severe. He's fighting the best in the world. There's a lot of people coming into boxing, doing what they're doing while their promoters promote them, but they're never going to make it. I can look at them and see they won't make it. They'll get a lot of money and then they'll walk away in the sunset and that's it. The real champion out there, Tyson's fought him and will fight him again, and that's Wladimir Klitschko. If he gets past him the second time he will cement his legacy and he will go on and he will wipe the division out. I don't see anyone in the division up and coming to be worried about at all.”
One heavyweight that Peter has picked out of the crowd before was the Cuban fighter Luis Ortiz. A hulking southpaw with a solid pedigree, is he the biggest problem out there aside from Klitschko? “I think he is the biggest threat after Klitschko. He reminds me of a throwback, of a 90's fighter. Looking at him he has all the skills, tough man, good boxer and a good fighter. Very good heavyweight. I like all of his moves, everything about the guy. He proved he can do the rounds against Jennings, kept the pressure on and it was an impressive performance. He's definitely a serious heavyweight. Don't get me wrong when I say Tyson will wipe the division out and that's a guaranteed fact. What I'm saying is with all probability he will, but in heavyweight boxing anything can go wrong. Anything can happen. People like Luis Ortiz, they're serious fighters in the heavyweight division.”
Peter says that with the WBA tournament and those involved “they might as well give Ortiz the WBA belt now!”. He isn’t joking around either. It is clear from talking to him that the team are more focussed on the big fights than the titles. If Tyson can overcome Klitschko again in their rematch there are other options for him. There has been a high profile feud with the WBC champion Deontay Wilder, an undefeated American with a fearsome knockout record who Tyson has publically called out for a fight and vice versa. You suspect that this route would be more preferable than taking part in a tournament to retain a title that he already owns. Tyson Fury doesn’t need the belts to validate him, having already beaten the best in his division. It is a stark comparison to another British title holder, IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook. With so many other names in the division that he hasn’t been able to fight, Brook is validated in the division because of his belt, not his CV. That isn’t the case for Fury. I ask Peter if they would bother to go back and try to reclaim their own IBF title that was stripped from them. His answer is not surprising.
“No. Belts don't mean anything to me and I know they don't mean anything to Tyson. I think the only way the IBF belt would come into play would be if they had a mega champion holding it and the public see it as a major, major fight. It's all about fighters, not the belt. I'm not interested in a promoters belt, that's what we're looking at here.”
Part of what validates Tyson Fury is also the achievement, the fact that he did what nobody had done in 11 years. It is something that Peter can still look at with fresh eyes. “Tyson beat the best of the best. He can hold his head up and be proud for the rest of his life. He will never ever repeat what he did that night in Germany. That's not to talk about winning, even if he wins 100 times after. That win and going over to Germany against all the odds in his own backyard, beating a champion of 11 years at the top. He was a young kid really, he'd only just turned 27 and he goes over there in his first world title fight and did what he did. It will never be replicated again no matter what he does.”
Tyson spoke before the first Klitschko fight about the possibility of retirement is he was unable to beat a boxer he labelled as an “old man”. It is exactly what he made Klitschko look that night, not so much an insult as an observation. So does Peter think that would still be the case if he lost the rematch? “Only he can answer that question. I know he loves fighting and loves to box and that's it. He's ready to go again. I think Tyson is an outstanding fighter with a God gifted talent, so why would he not exhaust that talent to the best of his abilities? I actually think he will be around a long time.”
Peter laughs when we talk about his return to training over in Holland. “I'm back into it, I'm relaxed and excited and regenerated. I'm back in the gym losing my 15 kilos of blubber or whatever you want to call it, my inner tube! I have a couple of tractor tyres on the gym floor, I might ditch them and get Hughie to roll me around instead! But we're back in the gym with plenty of enthusiasm and I'm looking forward to Tyson wiping out the whole division and Hughie stamping his mark in March.”
Peter is a people’s person. It is a trait that is familiar with the rest of the Fury camp. Behind the headlines in the national newspapers are a tightknit family who are respectful and humble. There is no ego to Peter Fury despite everything that him and his family have achieved. It can’t be easy to stay grounded when you are an integral part of the team that has achieved what no others have done. But for Peter Fury, he sees it as “I’m only a man of flesh and blood”. In boxing circles that flesh, blood and DNA of the Fury family are something exceptional and special. As a person though, Peter is just the same as anyone else. That is something that boxing fans the world over should appreciate.
Peter wanted to thank Applied Nutrition who help supply the Fury team with their nutritional needs.