Fury-WIlder III & Mental Health in Boxing

By Eddie Sanchez

The sweet science, when competed at the highest level, is the ultimate balance of physical strength, agility, mental toughness and heart. When two fighters enter a ring, they do so knowing that they may not exit the same person as when they entered.

There are many times we see a fight where one individual is clearly better than the other, but the fight continues due to the heart and competitive nature of the challenger. When the corner does not do their part to protect a fighter from themselves, we find situations where someone “loses a piece of themselves inside the ring.”

Most of the time, commentators are fans are alluding to physical gifts being permanently damaged, or a permanent loss of confidence, but unfortunately there are times much worse where fighters are faced with mental health issues that are amplified by a sense of unfulfillment.

Over the past few months there have been numerous rumors about the status of the contracted trilogy match between Deontay Wilder (42-1-1) and Tyson Fury (30-0-1). You will recall that Tyson Fury won the rematch emphatically via a 7th round TKO which included two previous knockdowns. The beatdown was so pronounced that Wilder was essentially out on his feet for much of the last two to three rounds of the fight.

Given the harsh ending of the bout which left Deontay Wilder physically damaged, compounded by the fact that he lost his undefeated status along with his belt, many wondered how he would rebound leading up to the trilogy.

As time passed, the questions grew louder as the Wilder camp became more silent. Bob Arum and Tyson Fury voiced their frustrations, but were willing to move the pending fight date multiple times to accommodate the former champion.

Coming off a loss in which his corner waived the white flag to protect him, he was clearly searching for someone or something to blame. He fired his corner, blamed his pre-fight outfit for weighing him down physically, accused Fury of loading his gloves and echoed a conspiracy theory that his own team drugged his water.

It was clear that the Bronze Bomber was lost, and there are questions for how he currently stands mentally.

Despite being frustrated by the accusations, Tyson Fury voiced the following:

“I think Wilder’s got bigger issues than actual boxing at the moment. I’m quite worried for Wilder’s mental health and wellbeing. We all don’t wanna be defeated after such a long time of being undefeated professionals, but there has to be a point where you accept defeat and move on.”

“Wilder doesn’t seem to be able to do that. He’s holding all these malice feelings and he’s making all these excuses. I’m quite concerned for his mental wellbeing after this defeat because he’s coming out with ludicrous statements and I’m not sure what’s going on. But I always say, I’m only a phone call away and if I can help in any way then I would give him the best advice I can. But to go on like he’s continuing, it seems to me like the fight has really affected his mental wellbeing.”

These statements coming from Fury are powerful for numerous reasons. As a former opponent, to share this level of concern is touching. Tyson Fury has dealt with his own mental health issues, which left him on the brink of suicide. Having the personal understanding of a man in his situation is, at the very least, resourceful.

Deontay Wilder perhaps didn’t see the moment for what it truly was based on his response.

It’s understandable for Deontay to respond harshly considering he is coming to terms with the fact that he missed the deadline to enforce his rematch clause. He is making last-ditch efforts through mediation to engage in the formerly contracted third bout, so you can see the emotion in his tweet.

My hope is that he eventually does see Tyson Fury’s hand for what it is, because mental health issues within boxing are a big problem.

The boxing public first became aware of Tyson Fury’s battle with depression following his unanimous decision victory over longtime unified champion Wladimir Klitschko in November, 2015. Many in boxing felt that Fury’s display of dominance over the former champion would set him up for a lengthy title reign, but almost immediately Fury disappeared.

Tyson Fury recently relieved his darkest moments with DAZN’s AK & Barak. He was open about his illness and detailed the following sentiments.

“When I was on the verge of suicide and I was attempting suicide, I didn’t realize what damage I would have caused to my family,” Fury said during the interview.”

“It never crossed my mind because when you’re in those dark, dark places, you don’t care about anything or anybody. And until you get back out into the light, you realize what damage you would have caused.”

“There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t pray to God to kill me,” he added. “I suppose I’ve suffered my whole life with depression and anxiety, but I never knew what it was because I was uneducated on the matter and I just thought it was a feeling I had.”

His depression led him to a near breaking point where he was driving nearly 190 mph with the goal of ending his life.

“I heard a voice speak to me and it said, ‘Tyson don’t do this. This is not for you. You’re going to destroy your full family’s lives.’” Fury revealed.

It’s amazing to see how far Tyson Fury has come. Although he admitted that his 2018 bout with Wilder was too soon, he left his fans with a moment fit for a movie when he rose from the vicious knockdown in the final round to earn a split-decision draw.

While Tyson Fury’s story is heroic so far, (his story and battle are far from over as anyone suffering from mental health issues will let you know), there are others who are not as fortunate.

Longtime trainer Freddie Roach and Muhammad Ali suffer(ed) from Parkinson’s disease. Although this is largely a physical consequence many believe stems from their time within the ring, there have been mental health related issues, tied to the disease, that the men have dealt with as well.

There is also Adrien Broner, a former four-division champion who has been in the news recently, largely relating to various legal issues and manic social media rants. Unfortunately, he is often enabled by those within the industry. It seems clear that there is some sense of issue that he needs to overcome, but the time for that has not been recognized.

Part of the issue with mental health within boxing, is that the general public is still learning how to address these situations appropriately. Making it worse, when these aren’t addressed, there are often those that enable the individual, which is common practice in a sport known for entourage-rich athletes.

Not everyone is as forthcoming as Tyson Fury and there is still a stigma that must be addressed to offer those who are dealing with mental health issues, the proper platform and comfort to speak up.

The NBA has seen a number of athletes, most notably Kevin Love and Demar Derozan, speak up about their issues relating to mental health. The NBA has since made efforts to support these men by creating campaigns to support not just their athletes, but act as role models to their fans.

Seeing what the NBA has done is significant, because Tyson Fury has followed Kevin and Demar’s lead as a voice within the boxing industry. The major difference is that boxing is not a sport with a head organization that sees their athletes as employees. It is essentially a sport of freelancers that hire their own representation to manage their fights. The significance with this distinction is that there is no larger body to support the fighters as the NBA did with Kevin and Demar.

These resources are even more important in combat sports such as boxing. It’s reasonable to understand why an athlete would have difficulty coming to terms with the different stages of their career. Coming off a tough loss, or reaching the end of their profession as they transition from training everyday to being out of the ring can cause a culture shock to their psyche.

When compounded by mental health related issues, these common feelings can create potentially destructive situations, and while in a perfect world everyone who needs help would get it, there needs to be more effort to combat this within a multimillion dollar sport.

As we advance as a society, issues that were once overlooked get light shed on them. The dangers and likelihood of brain injury for boxers is now commonly spoken for. The referees have done their part to end fights sooner rather than later when they make judgement calls. Cornermen are encouraged to protect their fighters in times where the fight is all but over. While these are clearly steps in the right direction, there is an unintended consequence when a mental health challenged individual gets the fight taken from them.

The hope is that as we continue to advance and educate ourselves as a society, different industries can make an effort to handle mental health related issues. In the meantime, we should continue to treat others how we would like to be treated and not be afraid to reach out to someone who may be struggling.

Tyson Fury has made a lot of people proud for his triumphs inside the ring and continued efforts to defeat his struggle with depression. He has shown that that his personal differences with Deontay Wilder do not compare to his care for the man that he is, and this is commendable.

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