Tyson Fury doesn’t do much by the book.
As modern heavyweights go, Fury definitely falls into the unconventional category both in terms of style and personality.
Fury doesn’t move like most big men, nor does he do much like fighters nowadays but it is that willingness to depart from the norm which has earned him such a dedicated following.
The remarkable journey which has seen Fury shed 10 stone and banish his demons is a source of motivation for many and he has a fascinating knack of connecting with even the most casual of boxing fans because of his filterless way of going through life.
While he still proves divisive – as most of the greatest fighters of all time tend to be – Fury earned the admiration of several critics with his brave and honest discussion about his battles with depression, suicidal thoughts and substance abuse on the most recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience.
Fury sought help after almost taking his own life in the summer of 2016 https://t.co/vamSUccq8R
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) October 26, 2018
The first half of the show was a compelling view into the mind of a man who regrets self-medicating his way through mental health problems but managed to come out the other end with a determination to reclaim his position as the baddest man on the planet.
The second half saw the playful side of Fury come to the fore and he told a quite incredible story of how he ended up making then-unheralded coach, Ben Davison, his head trainer.
“The choice of trainer was very, very controversial as well. I went with an unknown trainer who was 24 years old who’d never trained anybody,” Fury explained.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNZtibrPo0g
“He was helping out Billy Joe Saunders over in Marbella. He was an amateur boxer before and had about 12 fights. He had been helping Billy Joe out for a few years.
“I had two weeks training with Billy Joe over in Spain, he said: ‘Will you come over and keep me company?’ I never had any intentions of training. I went over there for a good drink up and a party.
“So we’re all in the coffee shop on the Puerto Banus and these two stunners were walking past in bikinis. I mean ten out of ten each.
“And I said to Ben Davison: ‘If you go and get me their numbers, you can be my boxing trainer.’
“So off he went after these two good looking girls, 20 minutes go by and he comes back with no number.
“I said: ‘Right, clearly you’re not the man for me because the trainer I need has to have minerals. And if you can’t get a woman’s number you clearly can’t win fights, can you?’
“He went off all in a mood, came back two minutes later and says: ‘There’s the numbers, bang.’ I said: ‘You’re hired.’
“I hired him for that reason, not just the hot girls’ phone numbers, it was the case that he proved he was willing to put himself on the line to prove to me that he could do something that takes minerals.”
If Fury gets past Deontay Wilder in his first world title fight since returning from his three years away from the ring, there is every chance that Davison will be named the trainer of the year.
And it all started with a confident chat-up line…
