Tyson Fury isn’t impressed with Cain Velasquez.
Most MMA fans are probably scratching their heads right about now with the same question in mind: Who is Tyson Fury?
In an interview with ESPN.com, Fury needed only one sentence to tell the world who he is:
“I’m the best fighter in the world,” he said on Wednesday.
Normally, a fighter’s greatness is perceived by the number of championships or marquee fights he has been involved in. Oddly enough, Fury boasts a 20-0 professional boxing record, but he has never held a major world title in his entire career.
In fact, he has never even competed in the States, with his U.S. debut tentatively scheduled for Saturday night against Steve Cunningham.
It isn’t about the title for Fury, as he so candidly points out to ESPN. His primary goal in fighting is proving that he is the best in the world, and to do that, he may have to crossover into MMA and take out the UFC heavyweight champ:
The belts don’t mean [anything] to me. Absolutely, one hundred-million percent [I want to fight Velasquez]. I’ve challenged Cain Velasquez to a fight three times. He’s a little boy who doesn’t want to fight. He said no, live on TV.
In January, Velasquez told ESPNChicago.com he didn’t even know who Fury was until he was called out by him.
He said a fight would only happen if Fury joined the UFC and worked his way up through the heavyweight ranks like everyone else. His impression is that Fury is attempting to use his name to gain publicity.
Unfortunately for Fury, Velasquez doesn’t appear interested in the least bit. Perhaps part of the reasoning is due to the whole James Toney circus nearly three years ago.
After hearing Toney bad mouth MMA, UFC President Dana White decided to give in and award him with an opportunity to step into the cage and prove that he could back up all of his trash talk. Needless to say, he was dominated by UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture in embarrassing fashion.
Still, Fury isn’t backing down from a fight. He is so confident in his chances against Velasquez that he is willing to put his entire career on the line. If he can’t stop Velasquez in impressive fashion, Fury says he’ll walk away from fighting for good at only 24 years of age:
MMA, to me, is bulls—. It’s for people who can’t box and like wrestling on the floor. It’s rubbish. If this man gives me a good fight, I swear on Jesus’ name I’m going to retire after the fight. Because I ain’t going to be nothing like I say I’m going to be if I can’t do a job on this man. I’ll retire if I don’t stop him. If I don’t impress with a good performance against this man, I will retire. I’m not going to fight. Game over. I will retire on live TV. I mean it. I’m not here to play games.
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