The John-Henry Westen Show - March 15, 2023


All Glory to God： The Fascinating Life & Faith of Boxing Champion Tyson Fury


Episode Stats

Length

28 minutes

Words per Minute

168.62112

Word Count

4,841

Sentence Count

367

Hate Speech Sentences

3


Summary

What if... the heavyweight boxing champion of the world is an outspoken Catholic? Yep. Tyson Fury, the 6'9" 266lb world champion, has often spoken of his faith. But you ve got to see how it played out in one of the most stupendous boxing matches in the history of the sport.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 I came here today thinking me and you were similar, but sitting around this table, I know that me and you are so worlds apart.
00:00:07.520 Worlds apart. I look to nothing to come inside me and win fights. Only the power of God above. That's it.
00:00:14.620 And I get the power from that. I don't get the power from anything else. I don't need a second person to come and help me.
00:00:20.200 I've already beaten people like you many, many times.
00:00:22.460 What if I told you that the heavyweight boxing champion of the world is an outspoken Catholic?
00:00:34.940 Yep. Tyson Fury, the 6'9", 266-pound world heavyweight boxing champion, has often spoken of his faith.
00:00:44.600 But you've got to see how it played out in one of the most stupendous boxing matches in the whole history of the sport.
00:00:53.020 Tyson Fury dedicates all his fights to Christ. And he has never lost a fight. He dedicates them to our Lord Jesus Christ.
00:01:01.740 And you know, he prays before every fight. Not just for his own safety, but for his opponent as well.
00:01:08.940 And there's lots more. Right now, the boxing world is actually focused on Fury's matchup with the Ukrainian boxer Oleskander Usyk.
00:01:18.720 And that gives you the perfect opportunity to evangelize your friends who are into boxing, to inspire your friends and family.
00:01:27.620 Especially those who are interested in Tyson Fury, because he, as I said, he promotes all of his fights.
00:01:36.480 He dedicates them all to Jesus. And he dedicates all of his success to Jesus as well.
00:01:42.220 In this show, we're going to take a closer look at Tyson Fury's faith, which doesn't get much focus in the mainstream media.
00:01:50.600 And it also gives me a great opportunity to introduce to you LifeSite's editorial director, Paul Smeaton, who has pointed out Tyson Fury's faith as he's a boxing fan.
00:02:00.620 Now, don't get me wrong. Tyson Fury is by no means perfect. He's one of the most outspoken, unpredictable characters in all of sports.
00:02:10.460 In fact, his dress sense, his press conferences, his kind of maverick fighting style, all of it, it's larger than life.
00:02:18.460 Now, he does engage in the type of trash talk, I guess you could say, which is very typical among fighters.
00:02:25.140 And it's sometimes pretty vulgar. But that shouldn't make us overlook the incredible witness that he is giving to the faith,
00:02:34.060 or the amazing work he's doing to give hope to those battling with mental health issues.
00:02:39.600 Now, Paul Smeaton is going to take us through one of the most compelling and profound personal journeys in Tyson Fury's life,
00:02:48.360 which Fury is absolutely clear that, in his words, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is absolutely central to him and everything about him, including his boxing.
00:03:02.520 In this show, we're going to be digging into some of the biggest moments of Fury's career.
00:03:08.700 And if you're not familiar with Tyson Fury and his story, then by the end of this show, you're going to want to know more.
00:03:16.060 And if you're already a Tyson Fury fan, this show will make you realize just how crucial Fury's faith is and divine providence has been his life and his career.
00:03:28.100 Now, it all goes right back to the very beginning of his life, as Tyson Fury himself recounts in his autobiography called Behind the Mask, and I will quote it for you.
00:03:40.100 Fighting was in my DNA, and from the moment on 12th of August 1988, I came out of my mother's womb weighing in at just one pound.
00:03:51.460 I was showing my fighting spirit just to stay alive.
00:03:55.480 My mom and dad feared the worst again when I struggled for life,
00:04:00.240 and the doctors made it clear that it was a 100 to 1 shot that I would make it through the night.
00:04:07.320 But when I opened my eyes after coming back to life for the fourth time, my dad has told me that he looked at me and said,
00:04:16.500 quote,
00:04:17.280 He's going to make it.
00:04:18.740 He'll be 7 foot tall, weighing 20 stone.
00:04:21.620 That's 280 pounds.
00:04:23.240 He's going to be called after Mike Tyson, and he'll be the heavyweight champion of the world.
00:04:30.100 End quote.
00:04:30.860 How incredible that all of that actually came true.
00:04:34.960 This is the John Henry Weston Show.
00:04:37.800 Stay tuned.
00:04:40.420 Hey there, friends.
00:04:41.380 I just wanted to tell you about something in case you didn't already know it.
00:04:44.660 LifeSite is in partnership with a group called St. Joseph's Partners,
00:04:48.220 because in today's day and age where things are getting more and more strange out there,
00:04:53.180 we want to be sure that, you know, we have some reserves of gold and silver,
00:04:58.100 so that if debanking happens, which has happened before and seems to have gone on with the truckers
00:05:04.400 and everything else, that we at least have some backup.
00:05:07.680 And so there's been a lot of investing in gold and silver.
00:05:10.360 We wanted to find a company, though, that we could trust with our investments like that.
00:05:15.420 And St. Joseph's Partners is such a company.
00:05:18.180 Obviously, by their name, you know that they're Catholics, and we know that they're very, very faithful.
00:05:22.120 Indeed, you can go check out the shows I did with Drew Mason, who is the founder of St. Joseph's Partners.
00:05:27.920 But also, I wanted to tell you about a neat little project we did.
00:05:31.620 And this is really for both support of LifeSite News, but also for gifts for those people who sort of have everything
00:05:38.520 and you wonder what you can get for them.
00:05:40.700 Well, we minted a coin, a silver coin, and it's a one-ounce silver round, they call it.
00:05:48.520 It has LifeSite on the front for our 25-year anniversary that we're celebrating.
00:05:53.140 But also on the back, it commemorates the overturning of Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs decision.
00:05:59.820 So it's a collector item coin, and I encourage you to grab one for yourself.
00:06:05.420 Grab one as a gift for that person who seems to have everything else.
00:06:08.160 They might like it very much.
00:06:09.640 And please support us at LifeSite News by getting our coin.
00:06:13.980 We've just printed under 10,000 of them.
00:06:16.880 So it's a collector item, a limited edition.
00:06:19.600 God bless you and thank you.
00:06:22.460 Paul, welcome to the program.
00:06:24.000 Thank you, John Henry. Good to be here.
00:06:25.460 Let's begin, as we always do, at the sign of the cross.
00:06:27.620 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
00:06:32.220 Amen.
00:06:33.780 Well, I am so glad that we get to discuss something with so much fun.
00:06:39.900 And that's, I think, for a lot of people, going to be really exciting.
00:06:43.460 So tell us about Tyson Fury.
00:06:45.740 I'm just one of a bunch of normal men around the world who probably spend too much time
00:06:52.600 on YouTube looking at sports and have spent a lot of time watching Tyson Fury.
00:06:58.940 So I guess a lot of our viewers will know, and maybe a lot won't, Tyson Fury is the current
00:07:04.540 heavyweight boxing champion of the world.
00:07:06.120 He's also arguably one of the most or the most charismatic sports people today.
00:07:11.560 So lots of people will discover Tyson Fury in different ways.
00:07:15.580 Maybe some of our readers will have discovered him when we covered him sometime in 2021,
00:07:20.880 when he had the most incredible witness to our Lord immediately after a very famous victory
00:07:28.500 of his, his third victory over Deontay Wilder.
00:07:32.420 Let's actually take a look at that.
00:07:33.600 Walk me through what got you up twice after you had put him down.
00:07:41.600 First of all, I'd just like to say thank you to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
00:07:45.760 In the mighty name of Jesus, I won this fight tonight again.
00:07:49.640 I give him the glory.
00:07:50.640 He gives me the victory.
00:07:52.080 It made me legs strong.
00:07:53.080 I was down a couple of times.
00:07:54.200 I was hurt while the strong puncher, and he's a tough man.
00:07:57.860 I was hitting him with some big shots, and my Lord and Savior rose me to my feet tonight
00:08:01.540 to give him the glory.
00:08:04.160 Just amazing.
00:08:05.100 He's so upfront about his love for Jesus Christ and his attributing his own victories
00:08:11.060 to Jesus as well.
00:08:12.600 Yeah, absolutely.
00:08:13.260 I mean, there aren't many people who can speak like that.
00:08:15.260 And it's incredible that somebody in such a moment of such drama with so many millions
00:08:20.760 of people around the world watching speaks with so much passion and eloquence.
00:08:25.880 I think that really comes through.
00:08:27.660 I mean, he's just, he is objectively a warrior.
00:08:31.420 And then I think when you know the backstory of that whole trilogy, which I think will go
00:08:36.240 down, I mean, one of the reasons this is interesting is that people are going to continue
00:08:40.580 for years to watch this trilogy story with Deontay Wilder.
00:08:45.220 And what made me want to write this article and do this show is that, yeah, it's one of
00:08:53.720 the most interesting and compelling sporting spectacles ever.
00:08:58.200 And certainly in boxing history, it's already a famous, famous fight trilogy.
00:09:03.640 The kind of the religious backstory to that whole trilogy saga, I think most people miss
00:09:10.400 or they just don't know.
00:09:11.600 And it's absolutely fascinating.
00:09:13.640 Take us through it, please.
00:09:15.220 The way I sum this up for people who don't know, which I think is most people, they have
00:09:20.980 either missed this or just never heard of it.
00:09:25.720 This is one of the most famous boxing trilogies of all time.
00:09:30.080 And before it happened, the spiritual battle lines of the fight couldn't have been more clearly
00:09:35.940 laid out by both men.
00:09:38.140 To see that, you just have to look at their interview with each other, sat down face to
00:09:44.180 face prior to their first fight in 2019.
00:09:49.060 This is something that happens before every major boxing fight.
00:09:53.900 The two boxers will sit down in a TV studio immediately in front of each other.
00:10:02.540 And they're great drama, right?
00:10:04.200 Just from an entertainment spectacle.
00:10:06.320 But this one's a bit different because the conversation starts off very friendly, a lot of respect between
00:10:14.000 the two men, but gradually it becomes heated.
00:10:17.400 And then there's, so, you know, Fury kind of ups the ante and insists, you know, nice,
00:10:23.400 these are he's going to win.
00:10:24.340 And Wilder responds by informing Fury that when it comes to the fight, he's not going to be fighting
00:10:32.720 Deontay Wilder.
00:10:34.180 At which point Fury pushes him then.
00:10:37.800 And one of the options proposed for who, you know, Wilder claims Fury will be fighting
00:10:44.520 is an alter ego or an ancestral spirit.
00:10:50.560 And it's incredible to see Fury's reaction, you know, but Fury fans will know he's a Christian,
00:10:57.260 but his reaction to this is something which Catholics can sympathize and relate to because
00:11:04.860 he's clearly appalled by the suggestion that Wilder's got some kind of alien, which we would
00:11:14.220 assume is a demonic, demonic spirit inside him.
00:11:17.540 Let's have a look.
00:11:20.320 Is that like an alter ego or something?
00:11:23.200 Or is it a...
00:11:24.300 Is it a well-aligned...
00:11:25.100 Is it like a spirit that comes into you or what is it?
00:11:28.240 It can be an alter ego.
00:11:31.180 It can be a spirit.
00:11:32.320 You know, it may be an ancestry spirit.
00:11:35.280 Who knows?
00:11:36.020 I'm part Nigerian as well, too.
00:11:37.020 I don't believe in all that stuff at all.
00:11:38.820 No, I do.
00:11:39.260 Because Jesus Christ is my savior and I don't believe in all spirits and alter egos.
00:11:43.800 And even mentioning stuff like that on TV, you're getting it.
00:11:46.880 Honestly, if God is with me, nobody can be against me.
00:11:50.920 And if you're entering spirits and stuff into your body, you can't win.
00:11:53.740 You've already lost.
00:11:54.940 You can't beat me.
00:11:56.400 I sit here today as a sincere man who tells the truth and eyes nothing behind no curtains.
00:12:01.580 I'm beating you.
00:12:03.460 One million percent.
00:12:04.540 I've not got no doubts.
00:12:05.920 Even after all the time off, you cannot beat me.
00:12:09.280 What you believe in, I may not believe in.
00:12:11.320 What I believe in, you may not believe in.
00:12:13.080 And that's just the case that you just showed to me.
00:12:15.100 A hundred percent.
00:12:16.000 But that's the thing about it.
00:12:17.160 Just like I feel like I'm a better fighter, you may feel like you're a better fighter than me.
00:12:21.220 I don't feel it.
00:12:23.120 You say you know it.
00:12:24.140 I know it.
00:12:24.680 Your time may come, but this is not your time.
00:12:27.240 You may think it's your time.
00:12:28.440 You may feel like it's your time.
00:12:30.960 But it's not your time, Tyson.
00:12:33.180 This is my time.
00:12:34.840 Definitely not.
00:12:35.480 And it will forever be my time until I retire.
00:12:37.700 I'm sorry to tell you that because I speak it, believe it, receive it.
00:12:40.240 Speak it, believe it, receive it.
00:12:41.160 Speak it, believe it, receive it.
00:12:43.220 And it's mine.
00:12:43.940 Let me tell you, all that stuff you just said, you're already beat.
00:12:46.960 Believe it.
00:12:47.640 Anyone who has to have an alter ego and not be themself in there and trying to get in someone's
00:12:53.180 mind like that, you can't beat me.
00:12:55.760 And if I'm not talking to Deontay Wilder, let me talk to the other person inside you, the
00:13:00.800 bronze bomber.
00:13:01.460 If I'm not trying to get in my mind.
00:13:02.300 You're looking at a man who stands in the light.
00:13:04.240 I don't want you to feel me.
00:13:05.180 I can't be beat by any alter egos.
00:13:06.600 I don't want you to feel me.
00:13:07.420 I can't be beat.
00:13:08.360 I don't want you to feel me.
00:13:09.320 I've already beaten you.
00:13:10.820 I've beaten you once and dusseled off.
00:13:12.680 I'll beat you again.
00:13:13.700 In America.
00:13:15.800 And then the dramatic moment, which, I mean, just is mind boggling that it was said before
00:13:20.540 the fight, is Wilder insisted that the fight was going to be a fight between Fury's God
00:13:26.720 and Wilder's God.
00:13:29.500 Whoa, whoa, let's watch that.
00:13:33.480 Because I want the world to know the truth.
00:13:36.040 People like you want them to know nothing.
00:13:39.220 You might say, speak it, believe it, see it, but I don't know what you believe in.
00:13:42.280 We can believe in receiving.
00:13:43.340 I don't, but I know what you believe in.
00:13:45.580 You believe in something I don't.
00:13:47.040 Well, that's the problem.
00:13:47.940 We don't believe in the same things.
00:13:49.500 And we're from a different world.
00:13:50.340 And this is where I don't like you anymore.
00:13:52.140 A different culture.
00:13:52.620 I came here today thinking me and you were similar.
00:13:55.640 But sitting around this table, I know that me and you are so worlds apart.
00:13:59.000 Most definitely.
00:13:59.760 Worlds apart.
00:14:00.340 Nine years.
00:14:00.900 I look to nothing to come inside me and win fights.
00:14:04.280 Only the power of God above.
00:14:05.860 That's it.
00:14:06.860 And I get the power from that.
00:14:08.520 I don't get the power from anything else.
00:14:09.940 I don't need a second person to come and help me.
00:14:12.400 I've already beaten people like you many, many times.
00:14:15.120 I'm bumping to people like you every single day of my life.
00:14:18.280 You ain't got no power.
00:14:19.740 Power in what?
00:14:20.700 I felt the ultimate power from above me.
00:14:22.760 Well, you feel it.
00:14:23.400 You ain't felt that because I told you a long time ago I'm going to baptize you.
00:14:30.640 Yeah, well, let's say if you can baptize me, I'm going to put the spirit inside of you.
00:14:34.660 A hundred percent.
00:14:35.760 I don't want anything in the spirit that you claim I don't want.
00:14:39.140 It's going to be your God against my God.
00:14:41.200 Time and time again.
00:14:44.600 Now, what happens?
00:14:46.400 The first fight happens.
00:14:47.480 It ends up a draw and that's got its own story, which is very interesting itself.
00:14:51.660 It is a part of the bigger picture of why Tyson Fury is such an interesting character.
00:14:56.420 There's a lot to his story.
00:14:58.300 One thing about Tyson Fury that's clear from everything he speaks about, his career and his boxing life,
00:15:03.480 he's very deliberate in what he does.
00:15:06.100 And his speeches, his witnesses to our Lord immediately after his fights are not always the same.
00:15:12.960 Now, the first fight ends up a draw.
00:15:14.740 The second fight is the first time that Fury gets a conclusive victory over Wilder.
00:15:20.300 And at the end of that second fight, the first time he gets a conclusive victory in this fight,
00:15:28.840 which Wilder has insisted is going to be your God against my God,
00:15:34.500 Fury makes a very pointed victory speech.
00:15:38.300 And now he's with Bernardo.
00:15:43.080 Tyson, describe what it feels to do what you just did.
00:15:49.000 You said it, you called it, and you made it happen.
00:15:52.380 You know, first and foremost, I want to say thank you to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
00:15:58.000 I said those who bring evil against me will not prosper.
00:16:00.800 I said those who stand in the dark can never come into the light.
00:16:05.200 All praise be to the one and only true God, Jesus Christ.
00:16:07.800 Jesus Christ!
00:16:08.340 Jesus Christ!
00:16:09.340 Just a quick note before we return.
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00:16:28.500 please consider making a one-time or monthly donation at give.lifesitenews.com.
00:16:34.060 And now, back to the video.
00:16:37.540 Jesus Christ, the one and only true God.
00:16:40.200 So the first one was a draw.
00:16:41.440 The second one is this victory and his statement.
00:16:45.540 There's a third fight again.
00:16:47.580 There's a third fight, and that's the one that I think we started out with on this show.
00:16:51.280 It's the first one that we reported.
00:16:52.520 The third fight is an epic battle, and his particularly eloquent speech from Fury at the end of it donned in a Jesus cap.
00:17:03.660 You know, maybe a lot of viewers watching his speech, you know, don't know much about him or who just see these.
00:17:09.400 For the first time on YouTube, I assume he's a born-again Christian or something like that in his manner.
00:17:14.680 But, you know, he is a Catholic.
00:17:16.040 He comes from a gypsy travelling background, and he's proud of all his background, including his Catholic faith.
00:17:22.520 There's something you told me before with regard to the first fight.
00:17:28.620 Unpack that for us, if you will, because I think that really is so central to this epic battle.
00:17:33.900 The first fight contains what I think will go down, in some ways you could say it already has, as one of the famous moments in boxing and sporting history generally.
00:17:42.980 And that's what is now widely referred to as Fury's resurrection moment.
00:17:49.060 What do you mean resurrection moment?
00:17:50.680 Okay, so Wilder is widely understood to have the hardest punch in boxing, possibly the hardest punch in boxing of all time.
00:18:00.680 And the consensus around boxing around this fight is that if Wilder hits Fury cleanly once, then he doesn't get up.
00:18:13.540 Now, Fury's winning the whole fight fairly comfortably and is headed for what, you know, and I can explain more about this later, there's relevance to it, but he's headed for what's an unexpected victory.
00:18:28.460 He was going into the fight as the underdog.
00:18:30.260 So he's winning the whole fight, 12 rounds, and in the 12th round, Wilder gets his moment and hits Fury as cleanly as you like with his hardest punch.
00:18:44.500 Nobody watching around the world, nobody watching on TV or in the stadium, especially not Wilder, thinks Fury's getting up.
00:18:53.120 He has to do something, surely, to put Fury down here in this last round.
00:19:04.340 Cool, great shot from Fury, terrific right hand.
00:19:07.680 Whoa, and there he goes, right hand, left hand.
00:19:11.240 And I don't think he's going to get up.
00:19:13.060 I think it's all over.
00:19:14.680 I think it's over, is he going to get up?
00:19:16.940 Can he get up?
00:19:17.980 Can he get up?
00:19:18.700 He does.
00:19:19.320 Can you continue?
00:19:20.120 Oh, my goodness.
00:19:21.580 Somehow Fury has managed to get up.
00:19:24.440 The referee is having a very, very close look at him.
00:19:28.240 Is he going to allow him to continue?
00:19:30.900 In the last round, is Wilder going to turn this one around?
00:19:34.820 He has another big left hook.
00:19:37.580 And Fury needs to hold on and buy time.
00:19:40.040 His corner are imploring him to hold on and buy seconds, which he does as the clock continues to tick down.
00:19:48.600 Still more than half a round to go.
00:19:51.940 Fury, how did he get up from that?
00:19:54.460 I thought that was all over.
00:19:56.020 Here comes Wilder again, trying to land massive headshots.
00:20:00.260 Fury trying to keep away, somehow.
00:20:03.240 Wilder senses the end is near.
00:20:05.580 He's looking for him.
00:20:06.620 Another left hook, partially blocked.
00:20:08.780 Tries to measure him.
00:20:10.000 Fury crazily, his arms behind his back.
00:20:13.460 Launch counters.
00:20:14.620 Oh, what a left hand from Fury.
00:20:16.260 Fury, great punch, great punch from Fury.
00:20:19.720 Where did that come from?
00:20:21.220 He dropped his arms, invited Wilder in and caught him with a peach of a hoop.
00:20:26.280 And now Wilder's holding on.
00:20:28.100 He's almost going down.
00:20:29.720 Deontay Wilder is struggling.
00:20:31.880 And there's still a minute to go in this extraordinary last round.
00:20:36.260 I can't believe what I'm seeing.
00:20:39.420 I don't know what's going on.
00:20:40.600 Fury somehow, somehow has come back.
00:20:43.940 He said it was his destiny.
00:20:45.740 And you begin to wonder, how did he get up from that?
00:20:48.900 And Fury is going, looking for Wilder now, who has once again, seemingly, it looks, he might have punched himself out.
00:20:58.240 And Fury is the one looking for Wilder now.
00:21:01.020 There's a shake of the head from Wilder, as much as to say, what is this in there against me?
00:21:07.860 How is he doing this?
00:21:10.000 We're into the last 25 seconds of the fight.
00:21:13.360 My break, my break.
00:21:14.240 One of the most extraordinary final rounds you would ever, ever see in a heavyweight contest.
00:21:21.160 The greats of the sport are gathered at ringside to watch this.
00:21:24.920 And the last few seconds now, we're in the last five seconds.
00:21:30.000 And the bell goes a little early.
00:21:32.020 And Fury goes around the ring, jumps onto the ropes and celebrates.
00:21:38.160 And Wilder, despite that knockdown in the last round, goes back to his corner with the look of a beaten man.
00:21:47.580 So Fury gets up, right?
00:21:49.400 Fury gets up.
00:21:50.380 Incredible moment in sport.
00:21:51.480 And whereas everyone's thinking he should lose this fight, should be knocked out, shouldn't be able to get up and continue.
00:21:57.920 He ends up becoming the more aggressive of the two in the fight for the rest of the round.
00:22:02.880 There's a great moment where Wilder's sort of shaking his head in disbelief.
00:22:06.380 What the heck is this guy in the ring doing here?
00:22:10.120 So that shouldn't happen.
00:22:11.220 If you don't watch boxing regularly, if you don't know, that shouldn't happen.
00:22:13.960 And certainly the consensus within the boxing fan community is, yeah, this is a unique, this is a special moment.
00:22:20.720 So obviously those of us watching with Christian eyes, with eyes of faith, you've seen in the first part of this episode, there's a spiritual dimension to this fight.
00:22:29.920 Both fighters have named it clearly.
00:22:31.800 The other reason why this is so special and so significant, and a reason it has a huge appeal for millions of people around the world, is that this moment is a really beautiful kind of encapsulation on the particular journey that Fury had been on himself.
00:22:49.860 So this fight comes after nearly three years out of the ring, during which Fury suffered crippling mental health issues, which very nearly resulted in his death through an attempt, through a suicide attempt.
00:23:08.340 And it's actually the motivation to come back and fight Deontay Wilder, partly, which was one of his spurs on his comeback.
00:23:15.880 But this fight happens, you know, really soon for Fury, much, much too soon, really sooner than he would have liked, liked to, so it's a dangerous occasion for him.
00:23:26.320 Nobody's thinking he should go and take this fight, it's too soon after solo out of the ring.
00:23:31.740 During his time out of the ring, he put on a huge amount of weight, was kind of trapped in a cycle of depression, alcohol, drug abuse, blew up to, I think, 28 stone.
00:23:43.140 He regularly psyched, had to lose about 10 stone for this fight, you know, to get in shape, to come back to the ring.
00:23:50.780 And so in some ways, it's a resurrection, it's a kind of encapsulation of his own story, from being down and out in life, and through being so close to despair.
00:24:00.880 And really a great image of hope to, you know, there can't be a more clearer, more beautiful image of hope than to climb back off the canvas after life has knocked you down.
00:24:12.020 He certainly sees that in his fight, and in that moment, there's a moving, moving speech not long after the fight with one of the interviewers.
00:24:24.320 He's all cut up with bruises, and he's very clear that he took on the fight, and all of that was done for other people suffering seriously with mental health issues.
00:24:35.600 Let's see that.
00:24:36.500 Two and a half a year out of the ring, 10 stone ballooned, mental health problems.
00:24:42.440 I just showed the world tonight, everyone suffering with mental health, that you can come back, and it can be done.
00:24:48.320 Everybody out there who has the same problems that I've been suffering with, I did that for you guys.
00:24:52.620 You know the truth, everybody knows I won that fight.
00:24:55.120 And if I can come back from where I come from, then you can do it too.
00:24:58.620 So get up, get over it, and let's do it. Seek help, and let's do it together as a team.
00:25:03.160 So he saw in this right away his own sort of resurrection.
00:25:08.920 There's an absolutely lovely quote where he speaks to this directly in his autobiography.
00:25:15.860 Shall I read it for you?
00:25:17.100 Please do. Please do.
00:25:18.460 So he says,
00:25:18.920 Where is Tyson Fury right now? How long has he been the world heavyweight boxing champion?
00:25:42.060 Fury now is really riding a crest of the wave of popularity since his victory over Wilder in the second fight.
00:25:50.960 He's really riding a crest of the wave of popularity.
00:25:54.620 There have been moments in his career which were much more difficult for him personally.
00:25:58.120 But now I think so many millions of people have warmed to him and have a special connection to him,
00:26:04.740 in large part because of his battles with mental health.
00:26:08.820 The fact that he's seen by many people now as a kind of survivor and somebody with a heroic and inspiring story.
00:26:16.960 And he'll continue to be in the news a lot this year.
00:26:19.160 I imagine, you know, in a couple of months he'll probably be fighting for the undisputed heavyweight championship
00:26:26.800 with a Ukrainian called Oleksandr Usyk.
00:26:30.100 He'll be in the paper more and more.
00:26:32.100 I think it's really a good reason for us to really pray for Tyson Fury.
00:26:39.440 He's a man who's very open about the trials he goes through on a regular basis.
00:26:45.340 You know, it's obvious from his huge fame and wealth and everything about his life that he has trials that most of us won't experience.
00:26:52.560 And he's somebody who is witnessing to our Lord, to faith, in the most incredible way.
00:27:03.700 And I think he needs a lot of prayers to continue in that and to be kept firm in the faith, be brought closer to God.
00:27:10.580 How many of us actually pray for these people who, you know, we allow to entertain us for hours and hours of our time and who inspire many of us?
00:27:20.060 I think it's just something which is maybe overlooked, which is worth all of us remembering.
00:27:25.200 Absolutely.
00:27:26.300 Also, I think Tyson Fury, he brings out a side of faith that is not at all tame, not at all weak or wimpy.
00:27:38.460 He's the toughest guy alive.
00:27:41.300 And it's just amazing to see.
00:27:43.760 Thank you so much, Paul Smeaton, for bringing this out to us.
00:27:46.520 I encourage everyone to go read Paul's article on Tyson Fury and what he's done.
00:27:52.640 Paul, again, is our director of editorial.
00:27:55.040 He's the guy behind the scenes working with all the journalists to publish our, what is it, like 30 articles a day, every day at LifeSite News?
00:28:02.280 Yeah, something like that, yeah.
00:28:03.460 Unreal.
00:28:04.280 And Paul heads also a team of editors who work on getting that out.
00:28:08.660 God bless you, Paul.
00:28:09.720 And thank you so much for being with us.
00:28:12.240 Thanks, Henry.
00:28:13.120 And God bless all of you.
00:28:14.780 We'll see you next time.
00:28:16.520 Hi, everyone.
00:28:24.200 This is John Henry Weston.
00:28:25.320 We hope you enjoyed this program.
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00:28:40.560 Thanks for watching, and may God bless you.