The Joe Rogan Experience - JRE MMA Show #47 with Tyson Fury

00:00:01.000 boom and we're live How are you, brother?

00:00:09.000 What's going on?

00:00:09.000 I'm good.

00:00:10.000 Good to see you.

00:00:10.000 Pull this sucker up to you.

00:00:12.000 Boom.

00:00:13.000 How's that?

00:00:13.000 Boom.

00:00:13.000 Good.

00:00:14.000 I'm very excited about your fight, man.

00:00:16.000 Very excited.

00:00:16.000 Not as excited as I am to be here.

00:00:19.000 I'm sure.

00:00:20.000 How often is it that two undefeated...

00:00:23.000 I mean, you're not a heavyweight champ because they stripped you, but you never lost.

00:00:27.000 Two undefeated heavyweight champions go at it like this.

00:00:29.000 This is a huge fight.

00:00:30.000 Very much so.

00:00:31.000 It's never, ever happened before, ever.

00:00:33.000 It's pretty exciting.

00:00:34.000 Someone too as big as us.

00:00:36.000 I've never, ever fought each other.

00:00:38.000 What do you think of, I mean, for people who don't know, you're fighting Deontay Wilder, who's an American undefeated knockout artist, and you are probably one of the more interesting guys in the heavyweight division, not just because of your personality, but your skill set, the way you move.

00:00:55.000 You're long and tall, but you've got great footwork and you're fast.

00:00:58.000 You know, it's a very, very interesting fight as far as, like, boxing technique.

00:01:03.000 It's power, raw power versus boxing skill.

00:01:07.000 Two guys, one 6'9", one 6'7".

00:01:11.000 Both charismatic, both talkers, one British, one American.

00:01:14.000 It doesn't get any bigger than this.

00:01:16.000 This is the biggest fight that could be made at this time in the heavyweight division or in the world of boxing.

00:01:20.000 When you watch Deontay Wilder move around, there's nobody that moves like that guy.

00:01:25.000 So odd.

00:01:26.000 It reminds me of Bambi on Ice.

00:01:30.000 He doesn't really find his legs underneath him.

00:01:32.000 No, sometimes he throws and he's got no legs underneath them.

00:01:36.000 He's swinging and literally he's flying through the air as he's punching.

00:01:39.000 I've seen him fall over a few times as well.

00:01:41.000 But listen, the guy tries to land that big punch and when you're trying to knock people out with every single punch, then if you miss, it becomes a problem and you go off balance and maybe fall over.

00:01:50.000 Yeah.

00:01:51.000 Were you impressed with him in the Luis Ortiz fight?

00:01:55.000 I was impressed with him because he came back and he was losing all the rounds.

00:01:59.000 I only gave Wilder the rounds that he knocked Ortiz down in.

00:02:03.000 So he'd done well.

00:02:04.000 It was his acid test, so to say, come through.

00:02:08.000 Ortiz is 49 years old.

00:02:10.000 At least.

00:02:11.000 At least.

00:02:12.000 Albeit he was past his prime age, but still undefeated...

00:02:17.000 Champion going in.

00:02:19.000 So it was a great victory for Deontay Wilde and he proved to me that he can come back, get hurt, come back and win a fight.

00:02:24.000 Yeah, and Ortiz comes from that Cuban system.

00:02:26.000 He's got great skills and he's looked fantastic in every single fight other than that fight up until that moment that he got hit.

00:02:33.000 Yeah, look, you can't go swimming and not get wet.

00:02:35.000 Ortiz had over 300 amateur fights, 20-odd professional fights, nearly knocked them all out.

00:02:41.000 But If I may be critical of Lewis Ortiz at this minute, he stood in front of Deontay Wilder, right in punching range, which is not a wise decision considering a guy's had 39 KOs.

00:02:52.000 Yeah.

00:02:53.000 And his movement, he was trying to move a little bit, but he was on old legs.

00:02:57.000 And I know a story what happened before that fight.

00:03:00.000 Lewis Ortiz had very bad blood pressure and the doctor was going to pull him out and he had Charles Martin on standby.

00:03:05.000 But he said, no, I need the money.

00:03:07.000 So he went in and fought anyway.

00:03:09.000 And he still nearly beat Wilder.

00:03:11.000 He had high blood pressure.

00:03:14.000 That's interesting.

00:03:15.000 Where are you hearing this from?

00:03:16.000 Good sources.

00:03:17.000 Good sources.

00:03:18.000 Those are the best sources.

00:03:19.000 Always the best.

00:03:20.000 Inside info.

00:03:22.000 You're an interesting story, man.

00:03:24.000 Not just because of your personality, but because you've come back from mental illness and you're very, very open about it.

00:03:31.000 I think that's a very unique thing.

00:03:34.000 I remember when you beat Klitschko and won the title and then you kind of went off the rails.

00:03:41.000 And I thought you were just partying.

00:03:44.000 You know, when I heard about it, I thought, well, guy made a shitload of money, became the heavyweight champion, all the pressure in the press and all the craziness.

00:03:51.000 But it was more than that.

00:03:52.000 It was more than that.

00:03:54.000 It started off like I'd suffered with mental health problems my whole life, but I didn't know what it was because I never had no education on the matter.

00:04:03.000 And it wasn't until after the Klitschko fight, a very massive high, that I had to have an even worse low.

00:04:09.000 Lowest low that anyone could ever have.

00:04:13.000 I'd wake up and I think, why did I wake up this morning?

00:04:15.000 This is coming from a man who had everything.

00:04:17.000 Money, fame, glory, titles, a wife, a family, kids, everything.

00:04:22.000 But I felt as if I had nothing.

00:04:23.000 I felt there was an empty, gaping hole that was just filled with gloom and doom.

00:04:29.000 And it just was one bad thing happened to me after another.

00:04:31.000 Within seven days, the IBF stripped me of their title because I couldn't defend against Glasgow.

00:04:36.000 He was a nobody because I had a rematch clause for Vladimir.

00:04:39.000 But the IBF wasn't expecting me to beat Vladimir.

00:04:43.000 So they took that clause in there anyway, thinking Vladimir is going to win a defender against Glasgow.

00:04:48.000 But because I won, they stripped me of the belt, which was none of my reasons.

00:04:52.000 Within seven days of the fight?

00:04:54.000 Yeah.

00:04:54.000 That's insane.

00:04:55.000 Yeah.

00:04:55.000 How can they require you to fight within seven days?

00:04:58.000 No, they didn't, but they required me to go into negotiations.

00:05:02.000 And you didn't?

00:05:02.000 So just not going into negotiations to sign, they stripped you within seven days?

00:05:06.000 Yeah, but they knew I couldn't go into negotiations because of a rematch clause.

00:05:10.000 Boxing's a dirty business.

00:05:11.000 So I was stuck in between a rock and a hard place.

00:05:13.000 Yeah.

00:05:14.000 And that's what happened.

00:05:15.000 That was one belt gone.

00:05:17.000 And then my team and Klitschko's team were carrying on about where the fight was going to be.

00:05:23.000 It was going to be on a cruise ship in Dubai.

00:05:25.000 It was going to be here.

00:05:26.000 It was going to be there.

00:05:27.000 Time was dragging on.

00:05:28.000 A cruise ship?

00:05:29.000 A cruise ship, yeah.

00:05:30.000 There was some Arab billionaire who wanted to make this fight an exclusive fight for him and his buddies.

00:05:36.000 No.

00:05:37.000 Come on.

00:05:38.000 Seriously.

00:05:39.000 This fight was heading for a cruise ship.

00:05:42.000 That fucking oil money, man.

00:05:44.000 They've got some money, but listen, if they can afford it, do it.

00:05:47.000 That's what I say.

00:05:47.000 That would have been the most hilarious scenario ever for a world heavyweight title fight.

00:05:52.000 A bunch of Arab billionaires on a cruise ship.

00:05:58.000 Wow.

00:05:59.000 So they strip you of the IBF belt, you go in a negotiation with Klitschko for the rematch.

00:06:04.000 How come the rematch never happened?

00:06:05.000 The rematch didn't happen initially because I went over on my ankle in training.

00:06:11.000 I was in Holland training for the rematch.

00:06:14.000 And I was running up on heavy terrain, and I went over on my ankle, sprained my ankle quite badly, so we had to postpone the fight.

00:06:20.000 But by the time I was off, like, say, three months, getting this ankle right and all that, I just didn't want to do it anymore, if you know what I mean.

00:06:28.000 I didn't have the desire.

00:06:29.000 The fire wasn't burning no longer to fight.

00:06:32.000 And I was suffering with depression the whole time.

00:06:33.000 Even in training camp, before I sprained my ankle, I was depressed, as depressed could be, on a daily basis.

00:06:39.000 And I'm thinking, why am I feeling like this?

00:06:41.000 I don't have no reason to feel like it.

00:06:43.000 Some people will say, oh, well, it's attention-seeking or whatever.

00:06:46.000 But unless you've experienced what I'm saying, it's sort of impossible to understand where I've been or where I've come from.

00:06:53.000 And it just went from bad to worse.

00:06:56.000 I hit the drink heavily on a daily basis.

00:06:59.000 I hit the drugs.

00:07:01.000 I was out all night partying with women of the night and not coming home.

00:07:06.000 And, you know, I didn't care about boxing.

00:07:08.000 I didn't care about living.

00:07:09.000 I just wanted to die.

00:07:10.000 And I was going to have a good time doing it while I was doing it.

00:07:13.000 I used to drink and take drugs to get away from the depression because when I was drunk or high then I wouldn't think about being depressed.

00:07:21.000 I thought about being a boxing champion or I feel great.

00:07:25.000 But as we know when the drink wears off it only leaves you with a bad hangover and feeling even more depressed.

00:07:32.000 For someone who suffers with mental health the worst thing we can do to escape it is take drugs or alcohol.

00:07:37.000 But yeah, that's the most common approach.

00:07:39.000 And that's the common approach because people, we don't know.

00:07:42.000 Because it's not spoke about.

00:07:43.000 And this is where I want to spread the word on mental health.

00:07:48.000 So when other people are in this position in the future, they know where to go and they know what to do.

00:07:53.000 Because there's a blueprint.

00:07:55.000 Well, kudos to you for doing that because so few people have the courage to talk about their struggles when they go through that because it seems like a weakness.

00:08:04.000 It's very powerful that you're willing to do that and just be open and honest about it.

00:08:09.000 There's a few people out there that are doing that now.

00:08:11.000 Our friend Mauro Ranallo, he's gone through some serious mental health issues and he's very open about it and talks about it quite a bit.

00:08:19.000 Now, when you were training for the first Klitschko fight, For the fight, rather.

00:08:25.000 Did you have it then?

00:08:27.000 Not really, no.

00:08:28.000 I was focused on what I wanted to do.

00:08:32.000 And that was beat Vladimir Klitschko.

00:08:33.000 And I believe when you've got a goal in mind from being a child all your life, and you do that, then I was like, I was lost.

00:08:43.000 I was almost like I didn't have anything more to do in my life.

00:08:46.000 Although I could have carried on and defended the belts and whatever, I wasn't really interested in doing that.

00:08:51.000 I'd beat the man I'd always wanted to do.

00:08:53.000 Because when I was an amateur boxer, I used to watch Vladimir Klitschko on TV as a world heavyweight champion.

00:08:59.000 And I always aimed.

00:09:00.000 He was my target to beat.

00:09:02.000 And when I finally beat him, it was like climbing me Everest.

00:09:05.000 I didn't have anything more to prove.

00:09:07.000 And the fire was dead.

00:09:09.000 There was no fire.

00:09:09.000 I was forcing myself to fight.

00:09:11.000 And I always said, I didn't want to be one of those people who just fought for money.

00:09:16.000 Because there's plenty of people with money in the world.

00:09:18.000 Plenty of them.

00:09:19.000 But who knows them?

00:09:21.000 And the reasons for me fighting, it's not for money or for belts or glory.

00:09:25.000 I fight because I don't know anything else.

00:09:29.000 I've always been a fighter, from being born to being 30 years old now.

00:09:33.000 It's all I love to do.

00:09:34.000 I don't have any other passion.

00:09:36.000 I've looked.

00:09:37.000 The Lord knows I've looked.

00:09:38.000 And if I had anything else I was good at or I could do, I'd be doing it.

00:09:42.000 I tried retirement.

00:09:43.000 I was 27. I retired under the second man in boxing heavyweight history to retire unbeaten as a world champion like Rocky Marciano before me.

00:09:51.000 But it wasn't enough.

00:09:53.000 I was like, I am lost without this fight game.

00:09:56.000 I tried golfing.

00:09:57.000 I tried clay pigeon shooting.

00:09:59.000 I tried 4x4ing.

00:10:01.000 I tried going to strip clubs, bars, restaurants, everything.

00:10:04.000 And it was just like, I had this emptiness inside where I just wanted to fight.

00:10:09.000 Well, in comparison to what you've accomplished, everything else has to seem pretty dull.

00:10:14.000 I mean, you step into the ring with Vladimir Klitschko, who was widely considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights ever, and you box his face off.

00:10:22.000 I mean, that was a beautiful performance.

00:10:24.000 It was.

00:10:25.000 You shut him down.

00:10:26.000 It was weird.

00:10:27.000 It was weird to watch him.

00:10:28.000 It's like there was moments in that fight where he just looked like he didn't know what to do with you.

00:10:32.000 And we're going to see it again on December the 1st.

00:10:35.000 Like I said to Vladimir, I said the same thing to Deontay Wilder.

00:10:39.000 You fought the Americans, you fought the Mexicans, you fought the Europeans, but you ain't never fought the Gypsy King before.

00:10:46.000 I said it straight to Vladimir.

00:10:48.000 I said, you're looking at a king.

00:10:49.000 I said, have you ever fought a king before?

00:10:50.000 He said, no.

00:10:51.000 I said, well, you're fighting one now.

00:10:52.000 And he said, you're going to lose to one.

00:10:54.000 Well, he's lost before, but he's lost because he got clipped and hurt and stopped.

00:10:59.000 And I was very impressed with him, actually, in the Anthony Joshua fight because he came back from getting badly hurt and almost put Joshua away.

00:11:05.000 But the fight with you is different because you just outboxed him.

00:11:09.000 And he was known as the guy who would box and hold, jab and hold.

00:11:13.000 I mean, he was one of the most boring heavyweights of all time.

00:11:17.000 Fantastically successful.

00:11:19.000 But from a spectator point of view, you watch some of his fights, you're like, Jesus Christ.

00:11:23.000 He would jab you, grab you.

00:11:25.000 Jab you, grab you.

00:11:26.000 I mean, that was his thing.

00:11:27.000 Right hand, grab you.

00:11:28.000 It worked.

00:11:29.000 He had 25 title defenses.

00:11:31.000 Yeah, I mean, it was very successful.

00:11:33.000 But that shit didn't work with you.

00:11:35.000 It didn't.

00:11:36.000 For the first time in his whole career, he was fighting somebody who was not just bigger than him, but more athletic, who could move more.

00:11:42.000 Yeah.

00:11:43.000 Someone who wasn't just looking for one lucky punch.

00:11:46.000 I knew going into the Vladimir fight that everybody, all the rest of the opponents, them 25 men before me, had all went in trying to do the same thing, trying to knock him out.

00:11:55.000 And he's got something of a weird defence where he puts both arms out in front of him.

00:12:00.000 And it's almost very awkward to land on that chin with big punches.

00:12:06.000 So I thought, I'm not going to do that.

00:12:07.000 I'm not going to make that mistake.

00:12:08.000 I'm going to outbox him.

00:12:09.000 And all my team said, this is not a good idea.

00:12:12.000 We've got to go to Germany to try and outbox a super champion and try and win on the cards.

00:12:16.000 Are you crazy?

00:12:17.000 I said, yes.

00:12:18.000 I said, but if I wasn't crazy, I wouldn't be great.

00:12:21.000 And I went over there and outboxed him.

00:12:23.000 And nobody, nobody, apart from my brother or my father, thought I could do it.

00:12:29.000 You know, even people who were close to me in camp, they were like, they were very unsure of what was going to happen.

00:12:37.000 And me being me, I always had that little smile on my face because I believed it.

00:12:41.000 I believed I could always beat Vladimir Klitschko.

00:12:43.000 I even told Vladimir, years before when I was 22, I said, I'll beat you one day.

00:12:49.000 Emmanuel Stewart told him too, God rest his soul.

00:12:52.000 He said, Tyson Fury is the heir to the throne.

00:12:56.000 He said, when his time is ready, he will beat you.

00:12:58.000 Straight to him.

00:13:00.000 Vladimir hated that.

00:13:01.000 He hated Emmanuel talking about me like that.

00:13:03.000 But he'd done it either way.

00:13:05.000 Well, I'm sure it was good fire under him during training as well.

00:13:09.000 Now, you were focused for that fight.

00:13:13.000 You were prepared.

00:13:15.000 And afterwards...

00:13:18.000 Was it just the realization that you'd accomplished this incredible goal that set into depression?

00:13:23.000 Was it you didn't know what to do next?

00:13:26.000 Or was it just that your focus was now no longer on this unattainable, almost insurmountable obstacle in front of you?

00:13:34.000 Becoming the heavyweight champion of the world, all of a sudden you did it, then the depression kicks in.

00:13:39.000 Yeah.

00:13:39.000 My conditioning trainer, Christian, he said to me before the Klitschko fight, he said, what will you do after you win?

00:13:47.000 I said, probably be depressed for a long time.

00:13:50.000 He said, what?

00:13:52.000 I said, truthfully.

00:13:53.000 I was almost expecting it.

00:13:55.000 And I didn't think I'd ever box again.

00:13:57.000 Even the day after the Klitschko fight, Sky Sports interviewed me, the UK broadcaster who put it on.

00:14:02.000 And he said, what's next for Tyson Fury?

00:14:04.000 I said, I'll probably never box again.

00:14:07.000 I knew.

00:14:08.000 I said to my dad and my brothers before the fight, a week before the fight, I said, win, lose or draw.

00:14:14.000 I said, this is probably going to be my last fight.

00:14:16.000 Because I knew the fire was going.

00:14:17.000 I didn't have that hunger anymore.

00:14:19.000 I had the hunger to beat Vladimir Klitschko, but not to carry on and continue.

00:14:24.000 And I said, I didn't want it to be about money or financial gain.

00:14:27.000 I wanted to be the best of my time, beat the best man.

00:14:30.000 And that's what I did.

00:14:31.000 And I was a man of my word and I didn't box again.

00:14:35.000 Until...

00:14:37.000 Two and a half years later, I decided to make a comeback because I was sitting here at £400, a drug addict, an alcoholic.

00:14:46.000 By the way, I'd never took a drug in my life until I got to 27. Really?

00:14:50.000 Never.

00:14:51.000 Not smoked weed, nothing.

00:14:53.000 And what were the drugs?

00:14:55.000 What were the drugs of choice once you won the title?

00:14:58.000 Cocaine was the usual one.

00:14:59.000 And that was it, really.

00:15:01.000 Cocaine and alcohol.

00:15:03.000 It's like...

00:15:03.000 Rollercoaster.

00:15:04.000 Crazy drug and alcohol mix.

00:15:07.000 But, you know, I look back on it now, and I think, would I change that?

00:15:13.000 I wouldn't.

00:15:14.000 Not many people will think, well, this man's crazy for saying that on a radio show, but...

00:15:18.000 I wouldn't change a thing because I know it was supposed to happen and I needed to be tested to see what type of character it was.

00:15:26.000 Although I did all those mad things and I went through all that time and I tried to commit suicide and...

00:15:31.000 How did you try to commit suicide?

00:15:32.000 Well, I'll tell you what happened.

00:15:35.000 I... Like I said, I was waking up and I didn't want to be alive.

00:15:38.000 I was making everybody's life a misery.

00:15:39.000 Everybody who was close to me was pushing away.

00:15:42.000 Nobody could talk to me, talk any sense into me at all.

00:15:46.000 And...

00:15:48.000 I'd go very, very, very low at times.

00:15:51.000 Very low.

00:15:52.000 And I'd start thinking all these crazy thoughts and this, that and the other.

00:15:55.000 And I was in me car.

00:15:57.000 I bought a brand new Ferrari convertible in the summer of 2016. And I was in it and I was on the highway.

00:16:05.000 And there's a strip of the highway where I am.

00:16:08.000 And at the bottom of about a five mile strip, there's a massive bridge that crosses the motorway.

00:16:14.000 And I knew that.

00:16:14.000 And I got the car up to 190 miles an hour.

00:16:17.000 I was heading towards that bridge.

00:16:19.000 And I didn't care what no one was thinking.

00:16:21.000 I didn't care about hurting my family, my career, people, friends, anybody.

00:16:25.000 I didn't care.

00:16:26.000 I didn't care about nothing.

00:16:27.000 I just wanted to die so bad.

00:16:29.000 I give up on life.

00:16:30.000 And just as I was heading towards that bridge at 190 in this Ferrari, it had crushed like a Coke can, by the way, if it had hit it.

00:16:38.000 I heard a voice saying, no, don't do this, Tyson.

00:16:43.000 Think about your kids.

00:16:45.000 Think about your family and your little boys and girls growing up with no father.

00:16:49.000 And everyone saying your dad was a weak man.

00:16:52.000 He left yous.

00:16:53.000 He took the easy way out because he couldn't do anything about it.

00:16:57.000 And before I turned into the bridge, I pulled on the motor and I was shaking.

00:17:01.000 I could feel myself shaking and I pulled over and I was all nervous and I didn't know what to do and I was frightened and I was so afraid.

00:17:08.000 And I thought, that day, I'll never, ever, ever try or think about taking my own life ever again.

00:17:14.000 And I didn't.

00:17:15.000 I went and got help from the leading psychiatrist doctor in the UK. And my dad went up with me and she said to my dad, she said, can I have a word alone with you, John?

00:17:25.000 He said, yeah.

00:17:28.000 My dad told me what she said when he came out.

00:17:30.000 She said, he is not to be trusted alone.

00:17:32.000 He's an imminent death risk.

00:17:34.000 That's the highest level of suicide risk that she'd ever assisted.

00:17:39.000 And she said, without his faith, he would have been dead a long time ago.

00:17:44.000 But she said, faith alone ain't gonna hold him, because that's gonna break.

00:17:48.000 And once that goes, he's done.

00:17:52.000 So that put my dad's life terror as well because he was checking up on me all the time.

00:17:57.000 He wanted to be with me 24-7.

00:17:59.000 He was even sleeping in my house with me.

00:18:02.000 A married man with four kids.

00:18:04.000 I was in a right state.

00:18:06.000 I just...

00:18:07.000 I just...

00:18:08.000 I wanted...

00:18:09.000 I just didn't want to live anymore, and I had everything that a man could want.

00:18:13.000 There wasn't nothing that I didn't have.

00:18:15.000 But it meant nothing.

00:18:16.000 Nothing meant anything.

00:18:16.000 I felt worthless.

00:18:18.000 And the longer it went on, the more it hurt inside, and the more I was hurting everybody.

00:18:24.000 Everybody gave up on me.

00:18:25.000 My full family thought I was definitely going to die, and I was going to kill myself.

00:18:30.000 And after that, I was thinking to myself, you know what?

00:18:32.000 I need to get better.

00:18:33.000 I need to do something.

00:18:34.000 But every time I tried to go to the gym, I had another voice saying that.

00:18:38.000 This ain't Thorals anymore.

00:18:39.000 I'm not going to do this.

00:18:40.000 I didn't want to do it.

00:18:41.000 I'd run 200 yards and pull up.

00:18:43.000 I wouldn't even get a mile.

00:18:44.000 I'd think, oh, I can't be bothered.

00:18:46.000 I don't want to do this.

00:18:47.000 Boxing is not for me.

00:18:48.000 I hated boxing at one stage.

00:18:50.000 In 2016, early 17...

00:18:53.000 I wouldn't have done a boxing fight for this room full of diamonds.

00:18:56.000 No way.

00:18:57.000 I hated boxing.

00:18:58.000 I wouldn't watch it on the TV. I wouldn't read about it.

00:19:01.000 I hated boxing.

00:19:03.000 I'd done it my whole life and I didn't want no part of it anymore.

00:19:07.000 And I was out drinking.

00:19:09.000 I didn't care.

00:19:10.000 I gave up.

00:19:11.000 Taking drugs, like I said.

00:19:13.000 And it had come to a point I was doing that for 18 months of my life.

00:19:17.000 And I was out 2017 Halloween.

00:19:21.000 I was a £400, dressed up as a skeleton.

00:19:25.000 And I go to this fancy dress party and I'm looking around and I'm thinking, these are all young kids compared to me.

00:19:30.000 I'm 30 and I feel like I was the oldest guy in there, like 29. I was like, what am I doing here?

00:19:34.000 Is this what you want for your life?

00:19:37.000 And I thought to myself, this is not me.

00:19:39.000 And no matter how many people told me before this, where I was going wrong, what I was doing, you need to act to your life.

00:19:46.000 You can only change your life if you want to change it.

00:19:49.000 And I left and everyone said, are you going home early?

00:19:51.000 I said, yeah.

00:19:52.000 I left at nine o'clock.

00:19:53.000 I went home.

00:19:54.000 And I got back home.

00:19:55.000 I didn't say anything to the wife.

00:19:56.000 I went straight upstairs into a dark room.

00:20:00.000 And I took the stupid skeleton suit off.

00:20:02.000 And I was sat there.

00:20:04.000 And I got on my knees and I was praying and begging God to help me.

00:20:09.000 And at this point, I'd never begged or cried to God to help me before.

00:20:14.000 I'd prayed a lot all my life.

00:20:16.000 But I'd never been in this physical state before.

00:20:19.000 I could feel tears running down my face.

00:20:21.000 My chest was wet with tears.

00:20:24.000 Because I knew I couldn't do it on my own.

00:20:26.000 It wasn't possible for me.

00:20:29.000 Because I tried and tried and tried and ended up back in the pub, back drinking.

00:20:34.000 I almost accepted that that was going to be my fate, an alcoholic.

00:20:38.000 So I was on my knees in this bedroom and after praying for about 10 minutes, I got up and I felt the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders.

00:20:50.000 And for the first time in years, I knew I was going to make a comeback.

00:20:55.000 And I called my wife, I said, Paris, Paris, she said what?

00:20:58.000 She thought I was drunk coming home from the pub.

00:21:01.000 I said, Monday morning, I start to regain mission to try and get the heavyweight championship of the world back.

00:21:06.000 She said, yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:21:08.000 Because before this, every time I'd have a beer, I'd come back and I'm going to be the heavyweight champion of the world again because it was the alcohol talking.

00:21:17.000 So I was like the man who called wolf a thousand times on this stupid career that I was living on the past, thinking about years before glory days.

00:21:28.000 And after this prayer, I got up and said, all right, this is going to be it.

00:21:30.000 She didn't believe me one second.

00:21:32.000 But even when I speak to her now, she says, that night you told me that.

00:21:35.000 She said, I hear a difference in your voice.

00:21:38.000 Something happened.

00:21:40.000 Next day, I phoned up Ben Davison.

00:21:43.000 And I said, I don't want to go back down the old route with the same trainer, same promoter, same anything.

00:21:47.000 I said, everything's got to change.

00:21:49.000 I said, it's going to be a new Tyson Fury.

00:21:52.000 And we called it Return of the Mack Mission.

00:21:56.000 And as I went out that morning, after phoning Ben and arranging everything, I went out for a run in my sweatsuit.

00:22:01.000 I had ambitions of running two miles.

00:22:04.000 I got about five minutes into the run and stopped.

00:22:08.000 And I walked.

00:22:11.000 And while I was walking, I thought, I can't run, I'm too fat, 400 pounds.

00:22:16.000 But I thought, I'm going to walk, I'm going to get out and walk.

00:22:18.000 While I was walking, I was flicking through on my phone on Instagram.

00:22:22.000 And I sees this video of Deontay Wilder.

00:22:25.000 Saying, yep, Tyson Fury's finally done that because the week before I'd been at a boxing show in Manchester or something and the press took a picture of me and it was like everywhere, this big, fat, out of shape, ugly, bald-headed, bearded, white as a sheep man.

00:22:39.000 I was like, a state.

00:22:41.000 And he'd done this video, yep, after seeing this evidence of Tyson Fury, I finally know he's finished.

00:22:49.000 He can never come back and even if I would have fought him in his A day, I'd have knocked him out.

00:22:55.000 And before that, he was talking about Mike Tyson, how he'd knock Mike Tyson out and around.

00:23:00.000 And I thought to myself, that's very disrespectful to talk about someone who's not even from your era and wanting to fight them and all that sort of stuff when there's no possible chance.

00:23:08.000 So I thought to myself, you know what, if I ever do fight you, I'm going to give it to you for that reason.

00:23:12.000 And then when I saw this other video of him saying things about me and that I couldn't come back and that, he'd give me that much more motivation to return just so I can beat Deontay Wilder.

00:23:23.000 So I had all these court cases on as well.

00:23:26.000 I was being charged with taking performance-enhancing drugs, nandrolone, something I'd never done.

00:23:31.000 I had nandrolone in my system.

00:23:33.000 It's produced naturally in the body.

00:23:34.000 But they say my levels were elevated.

00:23:37.000 The UK AD, UK anti-doping said there was no case to answer.

00:23:41.000 But all of a sudden I had a big WADA case on me.

00:23:44.000 That took nearly three years to sort out.

00:23:48.000 And everyone said, you're getting your hat nailed on here, son.

00:23:52.000 You're getting a 12-year ban.

00:23:53.000 And I said, you know what?

00:23:54.000 12 years.

00:23:56.000 Not just for Nandrolone.

00:23:58.000 I refused them as well.

00:23:59.000 I was in a bad mood one day and the drug testing people come in the gym and I told them to fuck off.

00:24:04.000 This is when you were training for your comeback?

00:24:06.000 This was when I was out of training, yeah.

00:24:08.000 All the time I was fat and out of shape and not training, I was still being random drug tested by UKAD. Really?

00:24:16.000 That's why I tested positive twice for cocaine.

00:24:20.000 And everyone said, no, you're never getting back.

00:24:23.000 The Boxing Water Control suspended my license in the UK for the cocaine use.

00:24:27.000 So I had a court case looking at ban forever, basically.

00:24:32.000 Spension.

00:24:33.000 The doctor made me medically unfit to fight.

00:24:38.000 So that was after I forgot about that bit.

00:24:40.000 When I was rescheduling the Klitschko to fight, this psychiatrist phoned up and says, look, he is medically unfit.

00:24:47.000 He can't fight anybody.

00:24:48.000 He don't want to live.

00:24:49.000 Never mind fight.

00:24:51.000 So I was medically deemed unfit to box, suspended by the Boxing Board of Control for the cocaine use, and I had an antralone case on me, and a refusal case.

00:24:59.000 And by the way, it was racking up millions of dollars in lawyer's fees too.

00:25:04.000 But I was so confident that everything was going to be okay because when I was down on my knees, I just knew that it was going to be okay.

00:25:12.000 And everyone was like, what's the point in training and doing anything with you when you can't do anything?

00:25:16.000 You're not in a position to do it.

00:25:17.000 I said, everything's going to be all right.

00:25:19.000 Don't worry.

00:25:20.000 Court case comes along in December.

00:25:23.000 We go.

00:25:24.000 They say, right, this court case is dragged on.

00:25:26.000 Insufficient evidence.

00:25:27.000 Get rid of it.

00:25:28.000 We both agreed that we was going to call quits on the case.

00:25:31.000 I go my way, they go theirs.

00:25:33.000 They pay their legal fees, I pay my legal fees.

00:25:35.000 Done.

00:25:36.000 That was a drugs case out the window.

00:25:38.000 Finished.

00:25:40.000 The suspension...

00:25:42.000 I had a meeting with the Board of Control in the UK and they said, look, if you can get passed medically fit by a doctor, mentally, then we'll reassess your case, until then denied.

00:25:53.000 So I said, right, no problem.

00:25:55.000 Phoned up the psychiatrist, the same people who I'd spoke to, all these doctors, three or four different, Dr Phil's, Dr Jones, whoever else, said, right, I need reassessing.

00:26:06.000 Reassessed me.

00:26:07.000 Bang!

00:26:07.000 Passed.

00:26:07.000 Flying colours.

00:26:09.000 I went back to the Board of Control, handed in my certificate by all these different doctors, examinations, physical and mental.

00:26:15.000 They said, we have no other choice but to give you a licence reinstated.

00:26:18.000 Bang!

00:26:19.000 So it was three of the biggest obstacles in my life at once were all done within a month or two, straight away.

00:26:25.000 Then I just had the easy task of losing 160 pounds.

00:26:30.000 Which if I could have got over all them other things, losing weight as a fighter was something that I'd done natural anyway.

00:26:36.000 So then me and Ben set about losing this 160 pounds.

00:26:40.000 And on the way back, I spoke to Frank Warren, he became my promoter.

00:26:44.000 And Frank said, right, you've had a long time out the ring, you've abused your body.

00:26:48.000 Let's get you four or five comeback fights just so you're ready.

00:26:53.000 I said, okay, no problem.

00:26:55.000 Had the one comeback fight, had the other comeback fight.

00:26:57.000 I said to Frank, I don't need any more comeback fights.

00:26:59.000 Make the Wilder fight now.

00:27:01.000 No, no, no, no, no.

00:27:02.000 He said, let's have a couple more just in case.

00:27:04.000 I said, I'm telling you, make the Wilder fight.

00:27:07.000 So this is where people don't understand.

00:27:09.000 I've picked Deontay Wilder.

00:27:10.000 He didn't pick me.

00:27:12.000 I picked him.

00:27:13.000 Well, he needs a high-profile opponent right now because it looks like...

00:27:18.000 I mean, I don't want to say that Joshua was ducking him, but it looked like he did.

00:27:22.000 I'll say that.

00:27:22.000 Yeah.

00:27:23.000 There's something going on.

00:27:25.000 Whether it's his management or his promoter, they didn't seem to want that fight right away.

00:27:32.000 I know some quite close details on that.

00:27:34.000 What is the details?

00:27:35.000 The details is, Wilder's team offered Joshua's team $80 million for a two-fight deal.

00:27:44.000 $50 million for the first fight and $30 million for the rematch if Joshua lost.

00:27:49.000 And they declined that.

00:27:51.000 And my lawyer, Robert Davis, he saw proof of funds from Al Heyman.

00:27:56.000 So Eddie Hearn and his chum buddies can all say this, that and the other.

00:27:59.000 But I know the truth.

00:28:01.000 Because proof of funds were seen.

00:28:03.000 Do you think it's because of when Klitschko knocked him down and had him hurt, they were worried about Deontay with his big power?

00:28:10.000 I don't think it's about either fighter.

00:28:13.000 It's bigger than that.

00:28:14.000 It's about money.

00:28:15.000 About keeping the money rolling in.

00:28:16.000 Keeping the golden goose laying them eggs, looking after it.

00:28:19.000 Don't take any risks.

00:28:20.000 The thing is, with Anthony Joshua, he's an Olympic gold medalist and in the UK he's a massive star.

00:28:24.000 He sells out stadiums, 70,000, 90,000.

00:28:27.000 Huge star.

00:28:28.000 Huge star.

00:28:30.000 So why would you want to get him beat?

00:28:33.000 By somebody who nobody's really heard of.

00:28:34.000 Or even take a risk of it.

00:28:37.000 They took the risk in the Klitschko fight.

00:28:40.000 It almost didn't pay off.

00:28:42.000 They scraped through skin of the teeth.

00:28:44.000 But he done it.

00:28:44.000 Fair play.

00:28:45.000 He got up off the canvas.

00:28:46.000 Showed a champion's heart to come back and knock out Klitschko.

00:28:49.000 Fair play.

00:28:50.000 But since then, they haven't remotely stepped up at all.

00:28:54.000 They fought Josef Parker.

00:28:56.000 And he didn't knock Josef Parker out.

00:28:58.000 He didn't even hurt Josef Parker.

00:29:01.000 He fought Carlos Takam.

00:29:02.000 Had a hard fight with him.

00:29:03.000 Had a hard fight.

00:29:04.000 Hard fight.

00:29:05.000 So, they're just keeping that money train going.

00:29:08.000 Right.

00:29:08.000 And I don't blame them because this is the business at the end of the day.

00:29:11.000 And if I was his management team, I'd say, stay away from Fury, stay away from Wilder, and we'll just fight the rest of the people and keep making plenty of money.

00:29:19.000 Why do we need to fight these guys who are very risky?

00:29:22.000 For maybe a little bit more than we're getting now, two times more.

00:29:26.000 But in the long run, we can have five fights and not get beat by mediocre people who would know he's going to beat and get the same money or more.

00:29:34.000 So it doesn't make sense.

00:29:36.000 So this is why me and Wild have agreed to fight.

00:29:39.000 Because at one time or another, it's got to be more than about money.

00:29:43.000 We're fighters.

00:29:44.000 We're everywhere champions of the world.

00:29:46.000 Of course we've made money in our careers.

00:29:48.000 I've had 28 professional fights, 27 professional fights.

00:29:51.000 I've made money.

00:29:53.000 It's about more than money now, surely.

00:29:55.000 If I spend the money I've already earned, waste it, then I'm stupid.

00:29:58.000 Then 200 million would be no good to me because I'd spend it anyway.

00:30:01.000 Right.

00:30:02.000 My dad always says the feeling of his money is very easily parted.

00:30:05.000 But that's another story for another day.

00:30:08.000 Going back onto this fight, we owe it to the fans.

00:30:11.000 Right.

00:30:12.000 To give them a proper fight of two so-called people who think they're the best.

00:30:17.000 Let's prove it.

00:30:19.000 It wasn't a hard negotiation thing on this deal, neither with me and Wilder.

00:30:22.000 I hope he don't mind and I hope his team don't mind me saying that they were the most fairest, most straight-going people I've ever worked with.

00:30:30.000 There was no if, buts, or maybes.

00:30:32.000 Whatever I asked for, they agreed, and whatever he asked for, I've agreed to.

00:30:36.000 There was no hard negotiations.

00:30:38.000 It was very, very simple.

00:30:40.000 Well, Wilder clearly seems to want to prove that he's the best.

00:30:44.000 And I've got to admire him for that.

00:30:45.000 Yeah, I admire that as well.

00:30:46.000 I mean, he's got a title, he's undefeated, he's smashing everybody they put in front of him, and he has a legacy on his mind.

00:30:53.000 He wants to leave a real legacy.

00:30:55.000 This is why he looked to fight you.

00:30:57.000 Yeah, I believe that.

00:30:58.000 I've got to give Deontay Wilder a lot of credit and respect for that and admiration because it seems to be that he was the only man at the time, before I was even come back, who was willing to risk everything he's got to prove he's the best.

00:31:11.000 And isn't that what fighting's about?

00:31:13.000 Where men want to prove they're the best of all the others?

00:31:16.000 No, he's absolutely behaving like a true champion.

00:31:19.000 I mean, that's what fans want.

00:31:21.000 They want a guy like that and a guy like you.

00:31:24.000 I've got to admire him because to pick me, a 6'9 mover who's slick and fast and can do awkward things, that's an awkward fight for him.

00:31:34.000 He could have picked much easier opponents and made similar money, but he didn't.

00:31:42.000 He opted for the toughest one, the most awkward test.

00:31:45.000 I respect him for that and I take my hat off to him.

00:31:48.000 Well, I think this is going to be a giant fight.

00:31:50.000 I really do.

00:31:51.000 Because this is what everybody's been wanting for a long time.

00:31:53.000 It's so difficult to get people excited about the heavyweight division.

00:31:56.000 I mean, Joshua's a giant fan in the UK, but worldwide...

00:31:59.000 Not so much.

00:32:00.000 Not so much.

00:32:01.000 And Deontay Wilder, even though he's had these spectacular results, he needs that big thing to put him over the top.

00:32:08.000 The Ortiz fight helped, but he needs something more to capture the real...

00:32:13.000 the love of the American public, the love of the world.

00:32:16.000 He just hasn't quite...

00:32:18.000 Grabbed it yet.

00:32:19.000 He hasn't.

00:32:20.000 I do feel sorry for him in a way because he has had 40 professional fights and knocked out nearly everybody.

00:32:26.000 He should be a huge superstar.

00:32:28.000 He should be, but he's not.

00:32:29.000 I go down the street, wherever I am, New York, Los Angeles, Big Bear.

00:32:34.000 And if I have 50 people who's Deontay Wilder, maybe one might even recognize the name.

00:32:39.000 And someone even said, I recognize the name.

00:32:41.000 Is he a ball player?

00:32:42.000 Is he a hockey player?

00:32:43.000 I said, no, he's heavyweight champion of the world.

00:32:45.000 It's crazy because he's a flashy dresser.

00:32:48.000 He's a great talker.

00:32:49.000 He knocks people into another fucking dimension.

00:32:52.000 He's a wild guy to watch fight.

00:32:54.000 He's very exciting.

00:32:57.000 He's just waiting for the big moment.

00:32:59.000 And maybe this fight is the big moment for one of you.

00:33:03.000 It is.

00:33:05.000 I do think it's something to do with the heavyweight division that's been in Europe for the last 15 years.

00:33:11.000 Yeah, and been put to sleep.

00:33:13.000 I believe that too.

00:33:14.000 The thing about Klitschko is, even though he was very, very successful, and his style was amazing in terms of his success rate, god damn those fights were boring to watch.

00:33:24.000 Nobody gave a shit about those fights.

00:33:26.000 Not outside Europe, but in Germany, he was a global phenomenon.

00:33:29.000 Well, they were just happy he lived in Germany and was speaking German.

00:33:32.000 He'd sell out 50,000, 60,000 fighting a nobody.

00:33:36.000 It was a wonderful investment for him.

00:33:39.000 I mean, no disrespect to him.

00:33:40.000 He's a great boxer, for sure.

00:33:42.000 But boxing is entertainment as well as sport, especially for the casual person.

00:33:50.000 If I watch a great boxer just box well and play it safe, I can be very impressed with that.

00:33:59.000 But the average person is not going to be impressed.

00:34:02.000 You're not going to get those pay-per-view dollars.

00:34:04.000 100%.

00:34:05.000 Look, I can't sit here and pretend that most of my fights have been the most exciting fights in the world.

00:34:11.000 Because my biggest fight in my whole career was a 12-round snoozefest.

00:34:16.000 I'm man enough to say that.

00:34:19.000 I am a man of honour, and I will tell you the truth.

00:34:22.000 I can't even watch that fight back.

00:34:24.000 It was that boring.

00:34:24.000 I didn't think it was boring.

00:34:25.000 It was, to boxing people who know boxing, they know how hard what I was doing is to do as a heavyweight and the skill and all that.

00:34:32.000 But, like you say, to the average Joe, who knows nothing about boxing, who wants to see two big men punch the shit out of each other, it was a boring fight.

00:34:40.000 So that's why Joshua gets more credit for his win over Klitschko, even though he got put down and nearly knocked out than I did, Klitschko didn't land the glove on me because their fight was 50-50 and they were knocking lumps off each other, but my fight was like 80-20 in my favour where I didn't get touched.

00:34:55.000 But that still was spectacular.

00:34:58.000 Watching it as a fight fan, first of all, it was no disrespect to Klitschko, but it was like finally, finally somebody figured this dude out.

00:35:08.000 Because there had been moments where people had tested him a little bit, but it had been a long time before somebody had beaten him.

00:35:15.000 It had.

00:35:15.000 It had been 11 years.

00:35:18.000 But that hasn't always been my style, boxing on the back foot, slipping and sliding.

00:35:22.000 I'll adjust to different opponents.

00:35:24.000 Vladimir had dynamite in his right hand, regardless of his boring style or whatever.

00:35:28.000 If you made a mistake once in that fight, you get knocked out.

00:35:33.000 Eddie Chambers, so many.

00:35:36.000 Samuel Peters.

00:35:38.000 Everybody.

00:35:39.000 The list goes on and on and on and on and on.

00:35:41.000 Everybody knocked out 65 knockouts.

00:35:43.000 And he would make you desperate because of that style.

00:35:45.000 Because that grab, jab and grab style, people would get desperate and they would open themselves up.

00:35:50.000 And then get knocked out.

00:35:51.000 And I didn't want to be on that list of knockouts.

00:35:54.000 But...

00:35:55.000 I've been in fights where it's been total wars for as long as the fight lasted, i.e.

00:36:00.000 the Steve Cunningham fight in 2013. I come out of here all confident, run straight on to an overhand right hand, down!

00:36:06.000 I was looking up at Madison Square Garden roof, the lights, and I thought, fuck me, it's now back to the farm, boy, get up!

00:36:12.000 Was Cunningham a difficult opponent because he was shorter than you?

00:36:17.000 Cunningham, believe it or not, and this is going to sound strange, Cunningham was the hardest fight I ever did have in my whole career, amateur or professional.

00:36:25.000 The reason being, he was very slippery.

00:36:27.000 The way I explained Cunningham, he was like a conger eel, all full of oil in front of me.

00:36:32.000 I couldn't pin him down!

00:36:33.000 He was light on his feet, he was weighing 208 pounds or something.

00:36:37.000 He was a cruiserweight, right?

00:36:37.000 He was a three-time cruiserweight champion of the world and he stepped up into heavyweights.

00:36:42.000 He was a slick...

00:36:44.000 Talented boxer, and I tried to walk him down, use my size and power, but he was just out boxing me.

00:36:50.000 What I'm good at, boxing, moving, slipping and sliding, I couldn't do against Steve Cunningham because he was quicker than me.

00:36:59.000 He was like he was a better boxer all round than me.

00:37:01.000 I couldn't do nothing with him.

00:37:02.000 And he'd knock me over even though he was a light puncher, supposedly, and walk right onto it, come from the back of the hole, dig over and right, right in the chin.

00:37:10.000 And I thought, this is it.

00:37:12.000 The US debut have been knocked out.

00:37:15.000 I thought, Tyson Fury, get up and kick his ass.

00:37:18.000 So I got up and I just went straight forward at him and I thought, no more boxing now.

00:37:22.000 I'm going to hit him round the body, put him up through the middle, round the corners.

00:37:26.000 You might be head on point, but sooner or later I'm going to get you.

00:37:29.000 And I did.

00:37:30.000 In round seven, I felt him going weak because I was just pushing him back, pushing him back and he's hitting me gloves and hitting me face and hitting me everywhere, basically.

00:37:37.000 But I walked right through everything with my guard up.

00:37:40.000 And after he got tired, I hit him with a heavy body shot in round seven.

00:37:43.000 And he didn't recover and I pushed his head back and knocked him clean out with the right hand.

00:37:47.000 That was the only time he was ever knocked out in his career.

00:37:49.000 Even to today.

00:37:51.000 It seemed like in that fight, perhaps one of the more difficult things was adjusting to the fact that he was so much smaller than you.

00:37:57.000 Six foot three he was, yeah.

00:37:59.000 Yeah.

00:38:00.000 Didn't you were...

00:38:00.000 It just took you a while to adjust to that.

00:38:04.000 Like I say, I'm not going to make any excuses.

00:38:07.000 Steve Cunningham was a better boxer than me.

00:38:08.000 He's a very good fighter.

00:38:09.000 Yeah.

00:38:09.000 A small guy for the heavyweight division, but a very good fighter.

00:38:13.000 Very good.

00:38:14.000 Like I say, the toughest man I ever faced was Steve Cunningham.

00:38:17.000 That's high praise.

00:38:19.000 So when you decided that you were going to make this comeback and you're dealing with all these mental health struggles, what did you do to overcome the mental health problems?

00:38:29.000 What did you do to overcome the depression?

00:38:32.000 Like I say, when I got up off that floor, I had a weight lifted off me.

00:38:35.000 And I had my mind set for the first time in two years that I wanted to do something again.

00:38:40.000 I think the way to beat mental health is setting goals, giving yourself short-term and long-term goals.

00:38:45.000 And that's what I did.

00:38:47.000 That's very interesting.

00:38:48.000 I give myself a goal of losing the weight.

00:38:53.000 Pound by pound, basically.

00:38:55.000 I'd set myself a 10 pound target and I'd reach that and then I set myself another 10 pound, 15 pound, whatever.

00:39:02.000 And I'd give myself little rewards and stuff.

00:39:04.000 I wasn't obviously eating junk food.

00:39:06.000 I was on a strict diet for six months.

00:39:09.000 And I was training twice a day, six, seven days a week.

00:39:13.000 But with the mental health, I don't suffer with mental health when I'm active, when I've got a goal.

00:39:20.000 And I think most people will vouch for this.

00:39:22.000 If you suffer with mental health problems, you tend to suffer them when you're on your own, when you've got a lot of time to think, and when you're not doing much.

00:39:30.000 But when you're busy on a daily basis, you don't have enough time to think about mental health.

00:39:34.000 And I figured out if I exhaust myself in the gym, I come on when I'm too tired to think about anything.

00:39:40.000 I just want to get some food and go to bed.

00:39:42.000 So that's what I do.

00:39:44.000 So you didn't use medication?

00:39:46.000 I didn't use medication, no.

00:39:48.000 Wow.

00:39:48.000 I was prescribed with medication from the doctor, but I refused to take it.

00:39:56.000 I took a couple of pills, helped myself relax.

00:40:00.000 From the doctor, but I never took them again.

00:40:01.000 I only ever took a couple.

00:40:02.000 What'd they give you?

00:40:04.000 I think it was like, it was either diazepam or triazepam or something like that.

00:40:07.000 Some antidepressant.

00:40:08.000 Some antidepressant pill, yeah.

00:40:10.000 But I'd done research on them and I didn't like what I was seeing.

00:40:13.000 Like, and I knew my grandfather, my dad's dad, he was addicted to pills his whole life.

00:40:19.000 Pills that didn't even do anything for him.

00:40:21.000 They was placebo pills.

00:40:22.000 But without him he couldn't function.

00:40:24.000 Really?

00:40:25.000 So I didn't want to become one of them.

00:40:27.000 My granddad would take pills And they didn't do anything to him.

00:40:32.000 But in his own mind he thought they were doing something, calming him down.

00:40:36.000 And I didn't want to be one of them people.

00:40:39.000 There was a point in my life where I, hand on heart, thought I was going to end up in a padded room.

00:40:49.000 That's how bad it was.

00:40:50.000 But it's fascinating that you're saying that setting goals and setting your mind on things and hard training is what set you back on track.

00:40:59.000 You know, I don't know what you're like when there's no one in front of you, but standing here in front of you right now, I would say this is a healthy, vibrant guy.

00:41:06.000 100%.

00:41:06.000 I've never felt better.

00:41:07.000 Mentally strong, physically, I'm training hard, I feel fit as a fiddle.

00:41:11.000 You know, I wouldn't be here if there was anything wrong with me.

00:41:15.000 But that's fascinating that most people think that to come back from a mental health issue like yours, you need psychiatric care and you need medication.

00:41:23.000 And you're saying you did it with setting goals and hard work.

00:41:27.000 And the biggest thing we're missing here is I didn't do it with doctors and all them type of things.

00:41:34.000 I've done it with something way more powerful.

00:41:36.000 God.

00:41:37.000 So your faith and your belief?

00:41:39.000 My faith and belief that God would make me better made me better.

00:41:45.000 Somebody who don't have any faith will think, oh, this is nonsense or whatever, but...

00:41:50.000 I'm living proof.

00:41:51.000 Well, if you believe in something, just like you were talking about believing in pills that don't do anything, belief is a powerful thing.

00:41:58.000 Who knows what's behind that belief, but what you're saying is so powerful that you, just by virtue of changing the way you think about things, setting goals, working hard, you lifted yourself out of the worst depression of your life to the point where you were suicidal.

00:42:16.000 100%.

00:42:16.000 And I never ever went back to that, from this day to that, and it's been well over 12 months.

00:42:22.000 That's pretty amazing.

00:42:23.000 I mean, that's an amazing thing for people to hear because there's a lot of people that rely heavily on antidepressants and medication.

00:42:31.000 They think that is the only way for them to be happy and for them to be not suicidal, not depressed.

00:42:37.000 They need that medication.

00:42:39.000 And for them to hear what you're saying, I think, is a very powerful thing.

00:42:44.000 It is, but I'm no doctor.

00:42:46.000 I'm not going to tell people to chuck away your pills and pray.

00:42:51.000 But it doesn't do any harm.

00:42:52.000 What I'm saying, give it a whirl.

00:42:54.000 Give it a try.

00:42:55.000 It can't hurt you.

00:42:56.000 Set yourself some goals.

00:42:57.000 Think positive.

00:42:58.000 And crack on.

00:42:59.000 Do a bit of training.

00:43:00.000 So, from accomplishing your ultimate goal, beating Klitschko, becoming the heavyweight champion, and then falling into this deep funk, do you think you had to go through all this to come back again?

00:43:13.000 I think so, yeah.

00:43:14.000 I believe I was being tested to see what type of man I was and what type of character I had.

00:43:20.000 And, you know, even before the Depression, I didn't appreciate things.

00:43:24.000 Nothing.

00:43:25.000 Nothing was value to me.

00:43:27.000 Even something I'd worked hard for.

00:43:29.000 If I'd worked hard and saved up for a car, just say, for five minutes, it'd be okay, but then I wouldn't want it anymore.

00:43:36.000 It was a piece of shit.

00:43:38.000 So nothing mattered to me.

00:43:39.000 I didn't value anything.

00:43:41.000 Anything that I had, and I worked hard for, and everyone knows, like, what I have is blood money, because I pay for it with my face, and my body gets punched to pieces for what I have.

00:43:53.000 So you'd think I'd appreciate things more than an X-Man, but I didn't appreciate nothing.

00:43:57.000 I didn't appreciate anything.

00:43:59.000 Anything I had or achieved, even World Championships, anything, I thought, is that it?

00:44:04.000 Your whole life has been like this?

00:44:06.000 Yeah, yeah.

00:44:06.000 So I believe I was taught I was put down this road and I had to suffer all these things so I could understand when I had things good.

00:44:14.000 Like today, I'm happy that I'm breathing fresh air and that I'm sat here in a mental, mentally stable way of thinking.

00:44:23.000 I'm happy that I can go out and enjoy a dinner and just be normal, whatever that is.

00:44:30.000 That's what I'm happy for.

00:44:33.000 I'm one of the most, probably the most unique people you'll ever meet.

00:44:37.000 I'm not orientated by material things and all that sort of stuff.

00:44:41.000 It means nothing to me.

00:44:42.000 I don't even care about glory and honour.

00:44:46.000 I don't care about legacies.

00:44:48.000 I don't care about winning titles or medals.

00:44:53.000 It doesn't matter.

00:44:55.000 But when I set my mind to doing something, I'll do it.

00:44:58.000 And every single time I've ever set my mind to anything, I've done it.

00:45:01.000 Even the unthinkable things, if I set my mind to, I've done it.

00:45:05.000 I don't care about wanting what Deontay Wilder has in his position or whatever.

00:45:09.000 I only want to beat him in a fight, that's it.

00:45:12.000 You only want to beat him because it's so difficult.

00:45:16.000 Not just that, because that's what I want to do.

00:45:18.000 Because that's your goal.

00:45:19.000 Set me goal.

00:45:20.000 Beating Deontay Wilder.

00:45:21.000 So do you think that that's your future, is just setting goals and constantly trying to achieve those goals?

00:45:26.000 I think I've got a bigger purpose now than boxing.

00:45:30.000 Boxing's a sport and something that I've made a living out of for a long time.

00:45:34.000 But I think there's a bigger picture.

00:45:35.000 Bigger than winning any titles.

00:45:37.000 Bigger than winning any fights.

00:45:40.000 Any number of fights.

00:45:41.000 I think my calling card in life is to spread the word on this.

00:45:44.000 This disease is a silent killer.

00:45:47.000 A killer that's so ferocious that you can't see it or feel it from the outside.

00:45:54.000 You could be suffering right now, but I won't be able to see it because I can't see into your mind.

00:46:01.000 It's just so unusual that someone has that solution.

00:46:05.000 That hard work, dedication, and setting goals is what lifted you out of the depression and made you appreciate life and made you appreciate all the aspects of it.

00:46:15.000 Yeah, I appreciate everything.

00:46:17.000 You know, spending time with my family.

00:46:18.000 I took it for granted before.

00:46:20.000 I thought, alright, I can spend time with my family any time I want.

00:46:24.000 I couldn't put into words what I went through.

00:46:28.000 But let me just say, I wouldn't wish what I went through on my worst enemy.

00:46:33.000 Not that I have any enemies, but if I did, I wouldn't wish it on a soul.

00:46:38.000 Because I know how hard it is, and I know a lesser person, maybe not have got through, and maybe not.

00:46:43.000 A man without faith, maybe would have took his own life.

00:46:46.000 Now that you have gotten through, do you feel like you have the solution now to navigate the rest of your life?

00:46:51.000 Yeah.

00:46:53.000 And I know the secret for me, and everybody's will be different, but if I train every day and I stay in shape, then I'll be happy forever.

00:47:01.000 The time I stop training, the time I balloon back up again, the time it all goes wrong again.

00:47:06.000 And I know that.

00:47:07.000 If you know something in your life, then you don't do it.

00:47:10.000 And that's what I know.

00:47:11.000 It's like a diabetic.

00:47:13.000 If he goes and eats a lot of sugar, he knows it's going to make him ill, so he don't do it.

00:47:17.000 So as long as I always stay by them guidelines, I know I'm going to be alright.

00:47:21.000 And that's how she wrote.

00:47:23.000 So as long as, well, that's the other thing too, right?

00:47:26.000 The alcohol and the drugs exacerbate any sort of bad state that you have because you're gonna feel like shit.

00:47:32.000 Yeah.

00:47:33.000 I'm not teetotal.

00:47:34.000 Right.

00:47:35.000 I've had a drink since I've been back.

00:47:37.000 I've been out with the lads, had drinks, whatever.

00:47:41.000 But your goals are still set and strong.

00:47:44.000 Yeah.

00:47:44.000 So that's really what it is.

00:47:46.000 Yeah.

00:47:48.000 So from now on you just have to continually set goals in your life set goals whatever them goals might be they don't have to be massive goals But they can be anything really anything that I want to do or I want to achieve or I want to go someplace or whatever Then I work towards and set myself a goal.

00:48:05.000 It's almost like a little treat or whatever It's fascinating because no one's ever really connected that.

00:48:09.000 I mean, people have made that connection in terms of like when they study happy people, one of the things they find about happy people is they're goal-oriented people.

00:48:17.000 They set goals to accomplish those people.

00:48:18.000 But nobody's ever really set that as a remedy for depression and for mental health issues.

00:48:25.000 Setting goals, achieving those goals, that's the key to keep it going.

00:48:29.000 I believe that's the case, yeah.

00:48:30.000 After doing quite a lot of research on myself and experiencing it, and it works for me and I find it works for a lot of people I speak to who've got the same problems.

00:48:39.000 I get messages from all over the world from different types of sports people and different types of people asking for information and help and how I got through mine and what I did and I'm happy to help.

00:48:52.000 So if there's anybody out there who's struggling in silence, which a lot of people are, then I'm always here to help if I can.

00:48:58.000 Well, it's such an impressive and inspiring message because you're doing it without medication.

00:49:02.000 You're doing it just through positive thinking, through goal setting, and through healthy living.

00:49:07.000 That's right.

00:49:08.000 And I believe it's the best way to live anyway.

00:49:10.000 Best way to live is fit and healthy.

00:49:12.000 When you're out of shape and you feel unfit and you feel terrible, then nothing's going to go right for you.

00:49:17.000 But if you feel fit, you feel good.

00:49:21.000 It's almost natural to feel depressed if your body is literally depressed.

00:49:26.000 If every time I go to the gym and do a little bit of training, whether it be a lot or little, I always go out of a shower and think, I feel great now.

00:49:34.000 Training sets off an endorphin in your blood that makes you happy.

00:49:37.000 Contentment is the word we're looking for.

00:49:40.000 Contentment doesn't come through material stuff, jobs, positions, fame, glory, money, anything.

00:49:46.000 Contentment, you'll never find contentment while you're chasing that sort of stuff.

00:49:51.000 My message would be, Look around yourself and be thankful for what you do have today.

00:49:57.000 Don't look for what you don't have.

00:50:00.000 You know, you've got to be happy with who you are.

00:50:02.000 A wise man once said, you've got to know yourself before you can know anybody else.

00:50:07.000 Study yourself.

00:50:08.000 Try and understand yourself.

00:50:10.000 Think what makes you happy and do that and what makes you sad.

00:50:13.000 Don't do it.

00:50:13.000 It's very simple, really.

00:50:15.000 If something makes me sad now, then I'm not going to do it anymore.

00:50:18.000 Take that out of my life.

00:50:19.000 I don't want that.

00:50:20.000 And if you know something's going to lead you down the wrong way and the wrong path in life, Don't do it.

00:50:24.000 Simple.

00:50:25.000 Very simple.

00:50:26.000 Set yourself small-time goals, long-time goals, achieve them, and move on.

00:50:31.000 Now, how long did it take for you to lose the weight?

00:50:35.000 I started training in November 2017. 400 pounds, can't run.

00:50:42.000 I got down to 275 pounds in my first fight back in June.

00:50:50.000 And by August in my second fight back, I was 258 pounds.

00:50:57.000 And I've maintained that weight, 260, 258. That's your ideal weight?

00:51:01.000 Yeah, from there to now.

00:51:04.000 So, what did you do differently with your diet?

00:51:06.000 Like, what did you...

00:51:08.000 I was eating a lot and drinking a lot.

00:51:11.000 I just stopped all that sort of stuff.

00:51:13.000 Like, my weight wasn't put on through being a normal person eating normally.

00:51:18.000 My weight was put on through excessive drinking of lager.

00:51:22.000 There's like 500 calories in one pint of beer.

00:51:25.000 And I'd go out and drink a minimum of 18 of those beers.

00:51:30.000 Followed by whiskey, vodka...

00:51:33.000 Everything else.

00:51:34.000 Then I'd stop off on the way home and have pizzas, kebabs, chocolates.

00:51:39.000 It was excessive living.

00:51:41.000 If you put your body through torture, you can't expect to feel great.

00:51:46.000 So what I did was I started eating healthy, not drinking.

00:51:51.000 And that was it really.

00:51:52.000 I just trained on a daily basis for a long period of time and sensible and clean.

00:51:56.000 You don't have to cut everything out.

00:51:58.000 But if you want faster results then you do it.

00:52:01.000 Now you said you changed your training as well.

00:52:04.000 What did you change up?

00:52:07.000 Before I was doing a lot of Long running and long boxing works like 12-15 rounds on the bag, pad work, all that sort of stuff.

00:52:19.000 While I was trying to lose the weight, I was doing more short, explosive stuff.

00:52:23.000 Like I was doing short, faster runs, as fast as I could go basically.

00:52:29.000 I would do more interval training and stuff like that.

00:52:32.000 Mainly it was focusing on diet though.

00:52:34.000 Diet's the most important thing for anybody trying to lose weight.

00:52:37.000 You could train like a Trojan warrior but not eat correctly and you go three steps forward and two and a half back and you find yourself after six months a little bit less than you was.

00:52:47.000 But you stay in the same position because With the diet, not that I'm a dietician, but I know how it works with losing weight, heavy.

00:52:55.000 Because all the way through my career, I've put on a lot of weight.

00:52:58.000 I lost just over 100 pounds for the Klitschko fight the first time round.

00:53:04.000 And I lost over 120-something pounds before that again.

00:53:09.000 So what I do to lose weight is I go on a no-carbs diet.

00:53:14.000 So, it'll be totally keto.

00:53:16.000 Ketosis diet.

00:53:17.000 I put my body into keto shock.

00:53:19.000 And they say you should stay.

00:53:20.000 If you're doing a keto diet, you should only do it for 11 days.

00:53:23.000 I'd do it for six to eight weeks.

00:53:25.000 Who said you should only do it for 11 days?

00:53:26.000 I read it somewhere.

00:53:28.000 My nutritionist.

00:53:29.000 Yeah, he said no.

00:53:30.000 He said you can only do this diet for 11 days.

00:53:32.000 I said I've already been on it six weeks.

00:53:34.000 Don't worry about it.

00:53:35.000 You need a nutritionist.

00:53:35.000 That's ridiculous.

00:53:36.000 You could do it.

00:53:37.000 I know guys who've done it for years.

00:53:38.000 There you go.

00:53:39.000 It's a healthy way of living.

00:53:41.000 It prevents diabetes and all these type of things as well.

00:53:43.000 There's definitely some benefits to it, but there's concerns that for athletic performance that you should have higher carbohydrates.

00:53:50.000 True.

00:53:50.000 But at this time, I was just focusing on losing weight.

00:53:53.000 And the keto diet done correct is okay, but I was doing it dirty.

00:53:58.000 How were you doing it?

00:53:59.000 I was having four double pâtés with cheese and mayonnaise.

00:54:05.000 Is that bad?

00:54:07.000 Full of fat and grease, and it can't be good for your arteries, can it?

00:54:10.000 Well, this is a long conversation.

00:54:12.000 I was having tons of meat fried up with cheese, mayonnaise, bacon, eggs, sausage, whatever.

00:54:20.000 Sounds good.

00:54:20.000 My ideal diet, basically.

00:54:21.000 I was thinking, this can't be a diet.

00:54:23.000 I'm not going to lose weight on this.

00:54:24.000 And you lost weight.

00:54:25.000 I lost the weight.

00:54:26.000 I lost it all.

00:54:27.000 Yeah, you'd be stunned at what is actually healthy and what's not.

00:54:31.000 I suppose you can't go wrong if you're cooking meat.

00:54:35.000 What's in a meat?

00:54:36.000 Whatever they put in the beef or whatever it is you're eating.

00:54:40.000 Processed foods are the ones that got all the additives and all the stuff in it, innit?

00:54:43.000 Processed foods and sugar and bread and carbohydrates, especially refined carbohydrates.

00:54:48.000 What I figured out in my life is I don't avoid fats.

00:54:54.000 Fats, my friend, basically.

00:54:56.000 If I look at a food, someone's on a diet, they look at the fat content in something, I don't look in the sugar.

00:55:00.000 Right.

00:55:01.000 Because the fat, I can burn fat off, but sugar will go into, it stores in the body.

00:55:05.000 And it stays in long and it eventually turns to fat.

00:55:08.000 Did you change anything in terms of your strength and conditioning work or your boxing work?

00:55:14.000 Like, did you hire a new boxing trainer?

00:55:16.000 Yes.

00:55:17.000 I've not got the same trainer as I did have before.

00:55:19.000 And why did you switch things up?

00:55:22.000 Because I was stale in the gym.

00:55:24.000 I didn't have no motivation no more.

00:55:26.000 I've done the same thing for years.

00:55:29.000 I didn't have any more motivation in the gym.

00:55:31.000 I had to have a new team.

00:55:33.000 And I knew this, going into this comeback, that I wanted a new team.

00:55:39.000 I wanted to start fresh, give myself some goals, give myself a new team, more positivity, instead of doing the same stuff day in, day out.

00:55:46.000 Switch up the trainer.

00:55:47.000 I did.

00:55:48.000 Choice of trainer was very, very controversial as well.

00:55:51.000 Who'd you go with?

00:55:52.000 I went with an unknown trainer who was 24 years old, who'd never trained anybody.

00:55:56.000 Why'd you do that?

00:55:58.000 Because, I'll tell you the story, he was helping out Billy Joe Saunders who was over in Marbella's fame.

00:56:04.000 Big fan of that guy.

00:56:04.000 I like that guy.

00:56:05.000 Yeah.

00:56:06.000 I like that guy too.

00:56:08.000 And he was helping out Billy Joe.

00:56:11.000 And he was an amateur boxer before Ben.

00:56:13.000 He had about 12 fights.

00:56:14.000 And Billy Joe, he was helping Billy Joe up for a few years.

00:56:18.000 And we went over to Marbella and we was out in a bar.

00:56:22.000 I was training at this time during the 17th.

00:56:24.000 I had two weeks training with Billy Joe over in Spain.

00:56:27.000 He said, will you come out and keep me company in Spain?

00:56:29.000 I said, yeah, of course I will.

00:56:30.000 Marbella, let's go.

00:56:31.000 I never had any intentions of training.

00:56:33.000 I went over there for a good drink up and a party.

00:56:37.000 So, gets out there, and we're all in the coffee shop on the Porta Benus.

00:56:42.000 And these two stunners were walking past in bikinis.

00:56:46.000 I mean, 10 out of 10 each.

00:56:48.000 And I said to Ben Davison...

00:56:51.000 I said, if you go and get me their numbers, Ben, I said, you can be my boxing trainer.

00:56:55.000 He went, what?

00:56:56.000 I said, you heard me correct the first time.

00:56:58.000 So off he went.

00:57:00.000 After these two good-looking girls, 20 minutes goes by, he comes back.

00:57:06.000 No number.

00:57:09.000 I said, right.

00:57:10.000 I said, clearly you're not the man for me, I said, because the trainer I need has to have minerals.

00:57:16.000 I said, and if you can't get a woman's number...

00:57:18.000 I said, well, you clearly can't win fights, can you?

00:57:21.000 Simple.

00:57:22.000 He went, what?

00:57:23.000 I'll show you.

00:57:24.000 Offed off all in the mood.

00:57:25.000 Two minutes later, he comes back, there's the number.

00:57:27.000 Bang.

00:57:29.000 Straight over.

00:57:30.000 He had excellent motivation.

00:57:31.000 You hired.

00:57:33.000 You hired him because you got hot girls' phone numbers.

00:57:35.000 Yeah.

00:57:37.000 I hired him for that reason.

00:57:38.000 Not just the hot girl's phone numbers.

00:57:40.000 That wasn't the case.

00:57:42.000 It was the case that he was willing to put himself on the line to prove to me that he could do something.

00:57:46.000 That takes minerals.

00:57:48.000 And if you don't have any confidence, then you can't go over to somebody who's really good looking and say, oh, my name's Ben, and my mate wants your number.

00:57:55.000 Is that possible?

00:57:57.000 He wouldn't have got the number.

00:57:58.000 If he didn't have any confidence and he didn't have any gumption to him, he wouldn't have got that number.

00:58:02.000 So I knew he was a good choice because he was young and fresh and had a point to prove.

00:58:06.000 And he wanted to do something with his life.

00:58:08.000 And I give him that opportunity.

00:58:10.000 And it was the best decision I ever made.

00:58:13.000 Now, what about what he knows about boxing?

00:58:15.000 Obviously that played a factor.

00:58:17.000 If he's just some random schmo who's good at getting girls numbers.

00:58:20.000 No, he wouldn't be the trainer if it was just that.

00:58:23.000 Before this, he was taking me on the pads and stuff in between Billy Joe sessions.

00:58:28.000 And we gelled straight away.

00:58:30.000 Me and Ben think alike.

00:58:32.000 Sometimes you meet people in your life and you're very similar in personalities and we like the same things.

00:58:37.000 We like to do the same things.

00:58:38.000 We've got the same type of personality.

00:58:40.000 We just gelled.

00:58:42.000 Automatically, I gelled.

00:58:43.000 Even before I said this about the number of the girls, I already knew that I was going to make Ben my trainer.

00:58:49.000 He's got a very keen eye for boxing.

00:58:53.000 And what he does is very...

00:58:56.000 He doesn't look like he knows a lot about boxing.

00:58:58.000 By looking, he just looks like a young lad.

00:59:00.000 Good-looking fella.

00:59:01.000 But when you sit down and analyse the fighters, he studies boxing day and night.

00:59:09.000 We'll be out watching movies after the training.

00:59:11.000 Ben's in his room watching Deontay Wilder, watching the fights, watching this, watching that.

00:59:15.000 He studies the game.

00:59:16.000 And he's always coming up with different game plans on how to beat this person, how to beat that person.

00:59:20.000 Very, very happy.

00:59:21.000 He's a very knowledgeable young lad.

00:59:22.000 And I said before I even made him my coach, I said, within five years, you're going to be one of the leading boxing trainers in the world.

00:59:32.000 And now he's got his chance.

00:59:33.000 And if I beat Deontay Wilder, Ben Davison will win Ring Magazine Trainer of the Year 2018. Now, how much different is your training with him than with your last trainer?

00:59:45.000 It's different.

00:59:47.000 Peter was a top trainer.

00:59:48.000 He got me to be World Heavyweight Champion.

00:59:52.000 But like I said, we never had no more motivation in the gym.

00:59:55.000 It was stale.

00:59:56.000 There was no vibe in the gym.

00:59:59.000 It was just like, work again.

01:00:00.000 I didn't want to be there.

01:00:02.000 I started training camp a few times and walked out of the gym every time because I didn't want to be in the gym.

01:00:06.000 I didn't have no motivation to be there.

01:00:08.000 So the main thing is boxing is boxing ain't rocket science.

01:00:12.000 You can only do a few things.

01:00:14.000 I think the most important things in boxing is road work, pad work and sparring.

01:00:18.000 Everything else, not interested.

01:00:21.000 My favourite thing to do is spar.

01:00:24.000 And I think what better to do than practice what you do with another person fighting other men.

01:00:28.000 And that's my favourite thing.

01:00:30.000 And I've often sparred hundreds of rounds for fights to get fit and lose weight.

01:00:34.000 James Toney used to do that too.

01:00:35.000 He used to spar hundreds and hundreds of rounds to get himself fit.

01:00:39.000 And that's what I've done as well.

01:00:41.000 That's my favourite thing.

01:00:42.000 But now we do a lot of strength and conditioning work.

01:00:44.000 We do a lot of weights and stuff.

01:00:46.000 I figured out over here, being around American fighters and stuff, especially the boxers, they don't have that program of weights and stuff.

01:00:57.000 It's more like maybe light weights, loads of repetitions and stuff.

01:01:01.000 I'm being a heavyweight.

01:01:02.000 I lift heavyweight, very heavyweights.

01:01:05.000 I'm deadlifting very heavyweights.

01:01:06.000 I'm benching heavyweights.

01:01:07.000 I'm using my body weight and a lot of stuff.

01:01:10.000 So I believe it's a very, very key factor in being a big, strong man.

01:01:14.000 So, he's responsible for that as well?

01:01:17.000 No, I have another guy who does that.

01:01:19.000 You have another guy who does strength and conditioning.

01:01:20.000 One of the things about a boxing trainer is knowing when to pull you back, knowing when you're peaking, and that mostly comes from long-term success, working with many, many fighters.

01:01:34.000 That's got to be one of the biggest chances you take with a young guy.

01:01:38.000 It is, but I put him to the test many, many times.

01:01:42.000 And he does.

01:01:43.000 He can see it.

01:01:44.000 Sometimes being a successful trainer, doing successful things and making champions, and then you go work with that trainer, you think, you don't know nothing.

01:01:54.000 That's mad.

01:01:54.000 I've worked with a few trainers on Falkland.

01:01:56.000 I'm not going to go into any names because that'd be disrespectful.

01:01:58.000 But Ben knows when I'm feeling good.

01:02:02.000 My style is all about feel-good factor.

01:02:04.000 And if I feel good, I'll fight excellent.

01:02:07.000 And if I'm not feeling under the weather, then I'll fight rubbish.

01:02:11.000 Do you know when, like when you show up at the gym and you're feeling like shit, do you know when to back out of there?

01:02:18.000 You know, often I've went to the gym not wanting to be in the gym and felt like shit but then had the best training session of my life.

01:02:25.000 That's happened many, many times.

01:02:27.000 Until you actually work it out and get into the groove, I don't think you can really know what you're going to feel like until you start training because if you went on how you felt before the gym sometimes, then you won't be in the gym at all.

01:02:38.000 Right.

01:02:39.000 But I do believe what you said is very correct and it's the most important thing.

01:02:43.000 That anybody's ever talked about to me.

01:02:45.000 And I'm glad that you brought it up because not a lot of people have that ability to know when to pull your fighter back.

01:02:51.000 Enough is enough.

01:02:52.000 A lot of people think, because it's a bigger fight than your last one, you've got to train double as hard.

01:02:58.000 You're training harder than you've ever trained before.

01:03:00.000 No.

01:03:01.000 Are you running further?

01:03:02.000 Are you lifting heavier?

01:03:03.000 No.

01:03:03.000 Because I already train hard, so I don't need to train any harder.

01:03:06.000 Where some people think, right, this is wild, the fight.

01:03:09.000 We need to be fitter than ever.

01:03:10.000 We need to run up a mountain carrying a backpack on me back and pull three balls up there and wrestle two bears.

01:03:15.000 But it's not the case.

01:03:18.000 And Ben knows that's not the case.

01:03:19.000 He's very cautious.

01:03:20.000 I've mentioned it to him many, many times about overtraining, overtraining, overtraining.

01:03:24.000 How many times do you see fighters leave it all in the gym?

01:03:28.000 Quite a bit.

01:03:28.000 I don't want to leave this in the gym.

01:03:30.000 I want to leave it in the ring on the night.

01:03:32.000 I'd rather be a little bit unfit A lot unfit rather than a tiny bit overtrained.

01:03:41.000 I've been overtrained and it's like being underwater.

01:03:43.000 You've got no snap, you can't put things together.

01:03:46.000 You want to, you can see it coming but you can't do nothing about it.

01:03:48.000 It's worse than unfit because you're compromised.

01:03:52.000 I've been overtrained before and I've been totally unfit, fat as anything.

01:03:57.000 And I'd rather be unfit ten times a day than overtrain once.

01:04:01.000 Can't do nothing when you're overtrained, but at least when you're unfit, you lose your breath, but you recover when you have a rest and you get back at it again.

01:04:08.000 But overtrained, you're just one pace, you can't do nothing.

01:04:11.000 You never get out of the mud.

01:04:12.000 Now, you have a strength and conditioning coach, and how often do you do that?

01:04:16.000 We do that five days a week.

01:04:19.000 Wow, that's quite a bit.

01:04:21.000 Are you running?

01:04:22.000 Yeah, we run three times a week.

01:04:25.000 So you're running three times a week, strength and conditioning five times a week, and on top of that, all your boxing work?

01:04:30.000 Yeah, we box six days a week.

01:04:32.000 Wow.

01:04:34.000 That's a lot of work.

01:04:35.000 Yeah.

01:04:36.000 Now, you're doing deadlifts and bench press, and I mean, is this a guy that's worked with other boxers before?

01:04:42.000 I've worked with this guy for...

01:04:45.000 Three years.

01:04:49.000 When I first started working with him, he'd worked with boxers before, a lot of local boxers and British boxers, but he'd never worked with a heavyweight before, and he didn't know what he was doing.

01:05:01.000 Because everyone makes the same mistake, the runner humans will train a heavyweight like we'll train a lightweight.

01:05:05.000 They're not boxing trainers, they're traffic and conditioning trainers.

01:05:08.000 So he was trying to make, in the beginning, he was trying to make me do something that a 10 stone, a 145 pound guy was doing.

01:05:15.000 It's not possible, it's a different world.

01:05:17.000 But only through experience did he realise what we need to do and what we don't need to do.

01:05:22.000 And now he's like, it's perfect.

01:05:24.000 I wouldn't change him for the world.

01:05:25.000 And I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have him because I'd have to go and go through all that same learning process again.

01:05:32.000 And it's not just heavyweights, it's heavyweight boxing.

01:05:35.000 Because I had this guy, this Mr Olympia guy, and he used to train some massive guys, 350 pounds, solid muscle.

01:05:43.000 But he didn't know anything about boxing.

01:05:44.000 And boxing is a performance sport.

01:05:47.000 And no matter if you look like an Adonis, but you can't do five rounds, it's pointless.

01:05:53.000 I'd rather look fat and be able to do 12 rounds on me head to look like an Adonis and be fucked after five.

01:05:59.000 Yeah, no doubt.

01:06:00.000 I've knocked out plenty of six-packs in my day, don't worry about that.

01:06:04.000 But I'm still waiting to be knocked out as a fat pig!

01:06:10.000 Now, training for Deontay Wilder, what have you done different?

01:06:13.000 To be honest, we haven't done anything different.

01:06:16.000 Is he the tallest, longest guy you've ever fought?

01:06:18.000 I think him and Klitschko are the same size.

01:06:22.000 I think Klitschko might have had longer arms maybe, or maybe not, I don't know.

01:06:25.000 But he's up there anyway.

01:06:27.000 If he isn't, he's the second tallest I've ever fought.

01:06:30.000 But every tall guy I've ever faced, the taller the better for me.

01:06:36.000 I don't know why, but I seem to be able to move better than them.

01:06:40.000 They're taller and heavier.

01:06:41.000 My ideal opponent would be like tall as anything and heavy because they don't move as quick and they can't turn good and all on.

01:06:48.000 They're stiff.

01:06:48.000 Well, what's unusual about you is that you're a tall guy who moves like a guy who's not tall.

01:06:53.000 Yeah, and that most tall guys have that advantage of long length and utilization of that length They're very good at judging distance and they have that advantage But what you're doing is you're moving around a lot on top of being tall which you could see with Klitschko It was very off-putting like right away.

01:07:12.000 He didn't know how to fuck with your timing.

01:07:14.000 Yeah, it was You know, that's a giant advantage.

01:07:18.000 It is.

01:07:19.000 All my life growing up, I used to watch all the great American heavyweight champions of the world.

01:07:24.000 Women being European, there's a stigma about European fighters.

01:07:28.000 They're stiff.

01:07:29.000 They can't move.

01:07:30.000 They're just strong.

01:07:31.000 I agree.

01:07:33.000 I agree.

01:07:34.000 90% of European fighters are stiff robots who just do a lot of conditioning work and lift a lot of heavy weights and they go in there trying to do one thing.

01:07:41.000 One, two, left up, right hand.

01:07:43.000 Take four or five shots back.

01:07:45.000 I didn't want to do that.

01:07:46.000 I wanted to have European conditioning with American style.

01:07:49.000 The best of both worlds.

01:07:51.000 And I believe that's what I've got.

01:07:53.000 I've got the brashness and the movement and the speed of an American fighter but I've got the European conditioning and core strength.

01:07:59.000 Best of both worlds.

01:08:02.000 Now when you think about a guy like Deontay Wilder who's got this wild style and tries to knock you out with every punch, are you doing anything different without giving away your strategy coming into this fight?

01:08:15.000 Are you doing anything different in terms of your preparation or in terms of the way you shadowbox or move or train?

01:08:23.000 Not really, no.

01:08:28.000 How can I explain this?

01:08:30.000 Without sounding like a clown.

01:08:33.000 I'll try my best.

01:08:35.000 Deontay Wilder is a one-trick pony.

01:08:38.000 I don't need to do anything special to beat him.

01:08:41.000 I just need to be myself.

01:08:43.000 Deontay Wilder's looking for one right hand all night.

01:08:45.000 It's a good trick, though.

01:08:47.000 It's a good trick, but we all know what happens when that trick don't land.

01:08:51.000 You've lost.

01:08:53.000 You need more than one punch to beat me.

01:08:55.000 You need to be able to set it up with footwork, speed, feints, movement, and he doesn't have any of that.

01:08:59.000 If the great Klitschko who had excellent footwork and ability to set that big punch up couldn't do it, what chance has the big swinger got of doing it?

01:09:07.000 If I get hit by a swinging right hand as a serve knocking out, it's my fault.

01:09:12.000 I want it to knock me out.

01:09:13.000 If I let Wilder swing one of those wild punches from the back of the hall and hit me and knock me out, then I'll say thank you very much.

01:09:20.000 You put me out of my misery.

01:09:21.000 God bless you, Wilder.

01:09:23.000 Because obviously...

01:09:25.000 I can't be a great fighter that I think I am if I'm getting knocked out by swinging punches.

01:09:29.000 It's just not possible.

01:09:31.000 I don't take big shots anymore.

01:09:33.000 Years ago, before pre-2013, I used to take everything, bang in the face, try and walk through and use my sheer strength, size and aggression and heart and determination to get through everything.

01:09:46.000 But as I stepped up in levels, I realised that wasn't going to get me anywhere but a good hiding, a good punching in the face.

01:09:52.000 So I changed my style to boxing and moving, slipping and sliding.

01:09:56.000 People have never seen me take any big shots because I'll just ride them.

01:10:00.000 A bit like Muhammad Ali used to do.

01:10:01.000 He used to take the shots on the gloves, go with it, slip, slide, roll.

01:10:05.000 Even as powerful as George Foreman was, he was a heavy favourite going in, knocked out Frazier and Frazier beat Ali and he had great fights over 15 rounds.

01:10:13.000 It didn't help him in that fight because he used his greatest asset against him.

01:10:19.000 And if I can use Deontay Wilde's own power against him, then I've won.

01:10:23.000 He's looking for one punch, I'm not.

01:10:25.000 So there we go.

01:10:26.000 And I don't believe if he can't land that punch, he's lost every round.

01:10:30.000 Even his promoter, Lou DiBella, said recently, he said, if he doesn't knock Tyson down and knock him out, I don't see how he can win.

01:10:38.000 Now, I don't want you looking past this, but let's just say you beat Deontay Wilder.

01:10:45.000 How do you talk Joshua into a fight?

01:10:48.000 I don't.

01:10:49.000 Because you can take a horse to water, but you can't make it drink it.

01:10:52.000 So what do you do after this?

01:10:54.000 I don't do nothing.

01:10:55.000 I sit back, retire, go up to 450 pounds this time.

01:10:58.000 No!

01:10:58.000 Don't do that again!

01:11:00.000 And get back on the drink!

01:11:02.000 Hell yeah!

01:11:05.000 What do you do?

01:11:06.000 I mean, you don't want to become depressed again.

01:11:08.000 You need goals.

01:11:09.000 I don't want to.

01:11:10.000 What do you do?

01:11:11.000 I just got to keep training.

01:11:13.000 But like I say, I only set one goal at a time and I don't care about anything else other than beating Wilder.

01:11:19.000 And after I beat the Wilder, I probably am going to be depressed again.

01:11:21.000 No, no, no.

01:11:22.000 I hope to God I'm not.

01:11:23.000 No, no, no.

01:11:24.000 Fuck that.

01:11:24.000 Get that out of your head, man.

01:11:26.000 But I don't know.

01:11:27.000 You never know.

01:11:28.000 You never know, but you can stop yourself.

01:11:30.000 Like, you've already brought yourself back.

01:11:31.000 Yeah, I have.

01:11:32.000 But you never know what's around the corner for you, and I don't want to look past Deontay Wilder and think about what I'm going to do after that.

01:11:37.000 Right.

01:11:37.000 When I beat Deontay Wilder, I'm going to let him fight Joshua.

01:11:42.000 He keeps talking about this Joshua fight.

01:11:44.000 It's the one he keeps wanting.

01:11:45.000 So I'm going to let him go fight him.

01:11:47.000 Go fight each other.

01:11:48.000 There you go.

01:11:49.000 There you go.

01:11:50.000 Take what's yours.

01:11:51.000 Go fight each other.

01:11:52.000 Come back another three years when you find someone who you think can beat me again.

01:11:55.000 Well, if he beats Joshua, that would be spectacular for a rematch, right?

01:11:59.000 Yeah.

01:12:00.000 And if he doesn't beat Joshua, then it's almost...

01:12:03.000 Like, Joshua kind of has to fight.

01:12:05.000 If he doesn't beat Joshua, he'll say, yeah, it was a better Wilder than Fury thought.

01:12:09.000 He didn't throw any punches against Fury.

01:12:14.000 It is what it is.

01:12:15.000 You know, you can't please everybody in boxing, and the fight game's a pretty fickle game.

01:12:20.000 Everybody likes somebody and don't like the next person.

01:12:24.000 And, you know...

01:12:25.000 The way I think, I saw Roy Jung say something recently, an old video it was.

01:12:29.000 He said, if Jesus Christ himself wasn't liked, What chance have I? I thought, you know what?

01:12:36.000 That is so true!

01:12:38.000 Roy's a smart man.

01:12:39.000 100% very smart man and a very great legendary boxer.

01:12:43.000 One of the greatest of all times in my opinion.

01:12:45.000 Yeah.

01:12:46.000 I'm talking with his people to get him in here.

01:12:48.000 You need to get him in.

01:12:49.000 He's very knowledgeable on the boxing game.

01:12:50.000 Yeah, giant fan of that guy.

01:12:52.000 I was with him a couple of months ago.

01:12:54.000 Plus I want to talk to him about Russia.

01:12:55.000 He's a Russian citizen now.

01:12:57.000 Yeah.

01:12:57.000 How good must that Russian pussy be?

01:12:59.000 Excellent, so I've heard.

01:13:00.000 Must be so good.

01:13:01.000 Not that I know.

01:13:03.000 Must be so good he got his own passport.

01:13:07.000 But listen, man, I'm a giant fan of yours.

01:13:10.000 It was an honor to meet you and have you in here.

01:13:12.000 I wish you nothing but the best.

01:13:13.000 Your story's fantastic and uplifting.

01:13:15.000 And please, don't go to 450 pounds if you win.

01:13:18.000 Please.

01:13:19.000 I might go to 450 pounds of solid muscle and become Mr. Olympia.

01:13:23.000 Listen, keep it together, brother.

01:13:24.000 Thanks for the kind words over the years and I appreciate it.

01:13:26.000 Thank you.

01:13:27.000 Take it easy.

The Joe Rogan Experience - October 09, 2010

JRE MMA Show #47 with Tyson Fury

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