Heavyweight champion Tyson Fury recalled a time when he couldn't run half a mile after battling with Covid-19 symptoms before his trilogy against Deontay Wilder.
Fury was originally scheduled to fight Wilder for the third time last July, but the trilogy was cancelled after an outbreak of Covid in Fury's camp less than two weeks before the fight. The heavyweight world title clash was rescheduled for October but Fury's training camp didn't go any easier as he still battled the effects of Covid.
To make matters even worse for the Brit, his newborn daugher Athena was fighting for her life after being rushed in and out of intensive care. Fury detailed his nightmare training camp for the fight during a recent public speaking event.
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“This is the type of training camp I had for Wilder 3," he said. "I’m in the hospital, training, I’m not even eating right, I’m 20-odd stone. I’ve got this little girl who’s got a heart condition and [one day] I’m out running with my dad, I couldn’t run half a mile. I’d just had Covid, my chest was killing me, it was on fire, I could hardly breathe.
Fury then revealed a heartwarming encounter he had with former opponent David Price, who defeated 'The Gypsy King' in the pair's amateur days. "I called up big old Pricey [David Price], the big plumber from Liverpool. I said, ‘Pricey, where are you, are you up for a run? I’m at Alder Hey.’ “He said, ‘Yeah, I only live round the corner.’ He came for a run. I’ll never forget big Pricey for that because at my lowest moment when my little girl was in hospital, he came running with me. Big respect."
Fury, who insists he is now retired from boxing, went on to knockout Wilder in arguably one of the greatest heavyweight title fights ever. The Brit said he only had just over three weeks of training for the fight and stepped into the ring with a do or die mentality.
“A world heavyweight championship fight with three weeks of training? No problem," he added. "By the time I got out of the hospital and I started training with SugarHill, we had maybe three-and-a-half weeks of training for a world heavyweight title fight. I jumped on the scales, I was 19st 12lbs. But I never make excuses. They said to me, ‘How was training camp?’ I said, ‘Fantastic, never had a better training camp in my life.’ I jumped in the ring and I thought, ‘It’s either me or you, sucker. Let’s go to war.’"
