Heavyweight division world champion Wladimir Klitschko would be an “easy fight” according to brash-talking Tyson Fury.
The Manchester heavyweight takes on the tough Christian Hammer this weekend at the O2 Arena in London, live and exclusive on BoxNation, and has claimed that a matchup with Klitschko would be a straightforward affair.
26-year-old Fury is the mandatory challenger for Klitschko’s WBO belt and is expected to face the Ukrainian legend in his next bout, should he prevail this Saturday night.
The heavyweight division has seen a resurgence of late following the crowning of a new champion in WBC titleholder Deontay Wilder, with the charismatic American keen to share the ring with Fury, who has his own thoughts on how he wants the coming year to turn out.
“To be honest I’m the man in the division to beat. Everyone wants to fight me because they know I generate interest. People are interested in me probably for the wrong reasons or the right reasons, but they’re still interested – that’s why people want to fight,” said Fury.
“They want to come to the UK to fight me. [Deontay Wilder’s] the world champion, but he’s the guy who first said he wants to fight Tyson Fury after winning the title. So I must be doing something right, I must be on the right track.
“I would like to fight Wladimir [Klitschko] first because number one he’s my mandatory, number two he’s the best in the division, and number three because he is an easy fight. Then I’ll fight Wilder. I won’t be taking any interim fights I’ll unify straight away,” Fury said.
The Fury camp has been a joyful one of late following the recent release from prison of Tyson’s dad John Fury after five-years away.
The imposing heavyweight believes that the return of his father will be a major plus for him going forward.
“It’s definitely [a boost] to have my dad back, he’s been away for a long time, so having him back in the gym and seeing his face every day is very good – it’s happy days at Team Fury,” he said.
“He gets to the gym at 7 in the morning and doesn’t leave till ten at night; he’s definitely putting his misspent time back into practice in the gym. It is nice having him around and seeing his face back in the gym and the smile on it when you’re doing good things in boxing.
“Anybody would be proud of what their sons achievements are – whatever they do. You don’t have to be so successful but as long as you’ve got somebody who tries their best in something that they’re doing then I think that any father should be proud of their son.
“You don’t have to be a world champion, you don’t have to be a millionaire but I believe every father should be proud of his own son,” Fury said.
Despite the talk of a world title fight in the summer, former British and Commonwealth champion Fury is well aware that he cannot overlook 27-year-old Hammer, who has 17 wins from his 20 fights.
“At this level in boxing you’re fighting top five opponents and in Hammer the number three ranked WBO heavyweight in the world, so nobody is going to be easy, they’re all hard fights,” said Fury.
“You can say I’m in touching distance of a world title but in hindsight I may as well be 5 million miles away because I’m not fighting Klitschko, I’m not in the ring with him and that fight’s not happening in my mind.
“Until I’m in the ring in the opposite corner it’s not on, so it’s just another fight for me, another day in the office. I’m going to go in there and box, move around and win and get out of there,” he said.
