Sports
I Am Done With Boxing-Fury
WBC heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury has confirmed that he is done with boxing.
The 33-year-old British fighter had hinted at retiring after the sixth-round knockout of Dillian Whyte in front of 94,000 fans at Wembley last Saturday to retain his title.
Speaking on a Tv show on Wednesday, Fury said he was deciding to leave boxing behind to spend more time with his family.
“I am done. Every good dog has its day,” he said.
“Like the great Roman leader said, there will always be someone else to fight. When is enough, enough?
“I am happy, I am healthy. I still have my brains, I can talk, I have a beautiful wife, I have six kids, umpteen belts.
“I have plenty of money, success, fame, glory, what more am I doing it for?”
Fury is unbeaten in 33 bouts and retirement would mean he would miss out on an opportunity to fight for the undisputed crown and with it a chance to cement his status as Britain’s greatest ever heavyweight.
A boxing analyst Steve Bunce had said he would not be totally surprised if Fury walks away from boxing but added that it is complex.
Oleksandr Usyk currently holds the other four world heavyweight belts and he is set to defend those titles against Anthony Joshua at some point, with the details of that fight said to be in “the final negotiations”.
It was then expected that the winner of that bout would look to take on Fury to unify the division for the first time since Lennox Lewis achieved the feat in 1999.
But Fury says he is happy with the timing of his decision.
“Boxing is a dangerous sport.” “You can be taken out with one punch as we saw on Saturday night and it only takes one unlucky blow and you might not get up off that canvas.
“I am quitting while I am ahead. I am undefeated and only the second man in history to retire undefeated heavyweight champion. I am very happy and contented in my heart with what I’ve done, he added.
Fury has not ruled out competing under a different format and UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou expects a crossover fight to happen next year.
But for now Fury says his only focus is on his family.
He said: “I have been away for the last 10 years all over the world for boxing. When do I get time to be a father, husband, brother or a son? I need this personal time.
“I always said I wanted to walk away on top of the sport and do it on my terms. I didn’t want to be the person who maybe should have retired two years ago.
“I wanted to go out with a knockout performance and they will not forget the Gypsy King in a hurry.”
A well-known football pundit in the State, Chief Christopher Okonkwo has lauded the efforts and vision of the Super Eagles Coach Eric Chelle for going from one venue of the Nigeria Domestic Nigeria Professional Football League match to the other in monitoring Nigerian players, with a view to invite some exceptional good one discovered into the main stream of the Super Eagles team.
Okonkwo, who made the commendation in an interview at the Port Harcourt Club recently, described the positive move by Coach Chelle as a good step in the right direction, noting that the practice was how its been done in the past among any contracted coach assigned to tinker the Super Eagles team.
“Truly, it has been an old tradition in the country seeing any newly engaged Coach to lead the National team, visiting some our Nigeria League venues during the league matches to spot light some good talents that could be used to beef up some grey areas in the department of Eagles team”
He, however, frowned at the current situation where our coaches had continously been over depending on the use of foreign based players during invitation of players to the National camp, thereby, relegating the domestic home based league players to the background as if they have nothing much to offer to the team.
“I can vividly recall that the likes of great players in the mode of Finidi George, Taribo West, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Richard Owobokiri, Emmanuel Osuigwe among others started from Nigeria football league before they graduated to play in Europe through which they later invited to Super Eagles camp to represent Nigeria”
“Besides, I’m also of the view that going to secondary school football competitive games could equally serves as a a good platform to discover budding talents that could be nurtured to become great stars in near future”, Okonkwo frankly added.
Okonkwo, therefore, prayed that any football coach to be engaged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to tinker the Super Eagles should be told not to confine himself in staying in big hotel alone but to be visiting some of our local league match venues, with a view to discover some good players that can be drafted into the Super Eagles team.
“Indeed, I stand to be challenged that there some young good players in the Nigeria Professional League. If spotted and exposed, could give the some of the invited foreign based players a stiff competitive fight in securing a postion in the team”, Okonkwo emphatically stated.
Ezechukwu, one of the youngest members of the Nigerian contingent at the championship in Ghana, said her ambition was to win the 100m title in style and cap it with a new personal record.
The fresh secondary school graduate explained that she is fully focused on contributing to Team Nigeria’s medal hopes and is determined to deliver strong performances across her events.
“My main objective in Ghana is to clinch the 100m title and the 4×100m,” Ezechukwu told Tidesports source.
“Nigeria can be assured of my very best and my commitment to the Team. I would love to set a new personal best in Ghana, but anything that comes, I will take it. The spirit in the team is high, and I think we are ready to go,” she said.
Ezechukwu, who was part of Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay squad at the World Relays in Botswana, said the experience gained from that competition has strengthened her mindset heading into the continental championships.
She admitted that she learned valuable lessons from her previous outing, including a difficult moment during the relay where an early error affected the team’s rhythm, but said she has used the experience to improve her discipline and composure.
“The secret is just being disciplined, training hard and trusting my coach and believing in God, and the result will show,” she added.
The teenager is part of a 41-member Nigerian team comprising 24 female and 17 male athletes competing at the championships, which begin today at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Nigeria are expected to compete across multiple track and field events as they aim for a strong finish against the continent’s elite athletes.
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