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If self-belief as gigantic as his 6ft 9in frame, plus an equally towering dismissiveness of every heavyweight from Wladmir Klitschko downwards are what counts, then Tyson Fury will be the undisputed world champion before the year is out.
As this Manchester-born member of the travelling community gets ready to parade his fighting Irish origins in New York, he is broadcasting his provocative opinions of all the other big men in boxing.
Let’s start with his views on the younger of the Ukrainian brothers, who is merely the holder of the WBA, IBF, Ring and WBO heavyweight titles, and who routinely beats up challengers like David Haye to maintain his hold on that majority of the belts:
WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO (Record 59 wins - 3 defeats, 50 KOs)
‘A b****. He doesn’t want to fight back and he doesn’t want to fight anybody dangerous. So that, to me, is a b****.’
VITALI KLITSCHKO (45-2, 41 KOs) The big brother whose hold on the WBC title keeps all the heavyweight belts in the one family:
‘At 42 you’re a pensioner, not a heavyweight boxer. The Klitschkos know that age waits for nobody.
‘If they put Vitali in the same ring with me I would take his heart out and feed it to him. But I’ve got no appetite for beating up old men.’
As for his British rivals in the race for a shot at the Klitschkos and a big pay-night for so doing, Fury is even more scathing:
DAVID HAYE (25-2, 24 KOs) The former unified world cruiserweight champion and ex-WBA heavyweight title holder will emerge fully from partial retirement in July in pursuit of another shot at a Klitschko:
‘If Wladimir is a b**** then what does that make Haye? What more can I say about him than he has humiliated himself already.
‘The guy goes into a world heavyweight title fight saying he’s going to knock out this Klitschko, then he runs away. Well, that’s worse than being a b****. That’s a pathetic loser.’
DAVID PRICE (15-1, 15 KOs) Became British and Commonwealth champion after Fury declined to defend against him but is now regrouping after something of a fluke KO by Tony Thompson:
‘Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic. He lost to a pensioner (Thompson). How do you let an old man who is out of shape punch you on the head. How do you go down from a clip, not a solid punch.
‘It just shows I was right about Price all along. He’s a fraud. I’ve been saying it from day one. Nobody listens to me but I’m a connoisseur when it comes to heavyweights.’
The American contenders, with the partial exception of Deontay Wilder, fare no better in Tyson’s estimation:
TONY THOMPSON (37-3, 25 KOS) The man who knocked out Price and now wants to do the same to Fury:
'An old man who got lucky with Price. Unless somebody gets to him before I do, I’ll put him out of his misery.’
JOHNATHON BANKS (29-1-1, 19 KOs) Schooled by the late Emanuel Steward, sparred with the Klitschkos and climbed the rankings by knocking out Seth Mitchell:
‘A mediocre, small heavyweight who likes to manoeuvre easy fights for himself. No match for me.’
SETH MITCHELL (25-1-1, 19 KOs) America’s coming boy when first making the switch from the NFL gridiron:
‘You saw what happened to him against Banks. He’s not a fighter, he’s a football player.’
BRYANT JENNINGS (16-0, 8 KOs) A new kid on the American block:
‘Decent mover, good skills… but too small to mess with a big heavyweight like me.’
Faint praise: Deontay Wilder
Faint praise: Deontay Wilder
DEONTAY WILDER (27-0, 27 KOs) The knock-out sensation who is America’s great new hope:
‘Probably the best heavyweight in America at the moment. But my jury is out on him because he’s not been tested yet by someone like me. But he’ so proud of coming third in the Olympics that he calls himself the Bronze Bomber. If I was a semi-final loser I wouldn’t want to keep bragging about it.’
The second tier of Europeans get it in the neck, too:
ALEXANDER POVETKIN (25-0, 17 KOs) Holder of the regular WBA title below Wladimir Klitschko the super-champion:
‘A little girl, He doesn’t want to fight anyone with a heart-beat. We keep offering to fight him and four times it’s been ‘no, no, no, no.’
ROBERT HELENIUS (19-0, 11 K0s) European champion but fortunate to be given a decision over Britain’s Dereck Chisora:
‘Useless. A big, stiff European.’
FRANCESCO PIANETA (25-0-1, 15) This former European Union champion – German born of Italian parents – comes from nowhere to challenge Wladimir Klitschko on May 4:
‘Oh my god. When I was a kid they took me over to Berlin to spar with him and I smashed him to pieces in the gym.’
So what does Tyson Fury make of TYSON FURY (20-0, 14 KOs)
‘I’m big, strong, fast. I’ve got good feet. I’m a thinker. I can adapt to any style thrown at me.
'I don’t just work off the jab. I can box orthodox, upside down, in and out, slip and counter, forward or backward or sideways. I’m the full package and as Jesus Christ is my saviour, I am the saviour of the heavyweight division.
‘And biggest of all, I can talk.’
There’s no arguing about that last sentence. After all, Fury has just been fined £3,000 by the British Boxing Board of Control for posting abuse and insults on twitter and warned to cut out the vitriol and mind his language.
But nothing will stop this man from talking. Why should he when he market-trades into the relish with which thousands of British and Irish fight fans buy his verbal trashing of almost any subject from his rivals to all things Liverpool?
Nor does the irony seem to occur to him that he is monstering the rest of the world’s leading heavyweights even as he approaches his US debut – in the Theater at Madison Square Garden on April 20 – against someone he might characterise as a small old man. Steve Cunningham, at 36, is 12 years older than Fury and, as a former two-time cruiserweight champion, expected to weigh anything up to 35 lbs the lighter.
Not to worry, He loves the feisty banter and, for as long as he backs it all up, the boxing public will go along for the ride.
And he swears: ‘I would call Wladimir Klitschko a ***** to his face if he was here.’
Let’s hope he gets the chance. Soon. In the ring.
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