Tyson Fury can be considered as one of the best boxers to ever step foot in the ring. The Gypsy King has dominated every fighter who came in his way and stayed undefeated after 31 fights. The British boxer is a two-time World Heavyweight Champion and has held the WBC and The Ring titles in his career.
But as the legendary Tyson Fury once said ” with every good high, there’s gotta be a good low “, Fury experienced it first hand in 2015. His life went to a phase where he will never try to visit again. In 2015, Fury defeats Wladimir Klitschko to win his first world title, a prize for which he worked his whole life.
But the following time of the fight brought adversities for the champion. During that 18 months time period, Fury found himself with no desire to live. All his great achievements, fame, and fortune meant nothing to him. He was with his family consisting of his wife and three children who still failed to stop himself from getting more involved with the ongoing depression. Fury almost got into a deadly accident as he was seconds away from crashing his car into a bridge.
Tyson Fury’s mental state and use of alcohol and drugs:
Tyson Fury failed miserably to deal with the depression. He gave his everything to avoid all those negative and harmful thoughts he was having but it didn’t work. Fury was 31 years old and had a huge career ahead of him but couldn’t cope with his training and concentration. He fell into the traps of alcohol which engulfed him completely.
In an interview, Fury said,” When I had a drink, it made the pain go away. Not the physical pain but the pain of thinking every time“. Fury even took drugs that gave him much-needed relief. Rather than fighting with depression, Fury chose the path of escape. The overuse of drugs and alcohol made the condition worse from which coming back was very hard.
After a year-long bad lifestyle of drinking and doing drugs, Fury experienced a massive breakdown, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He failed the drug test and his boxing license was taken away. Moreover, Fury gained an enormous amount of weight, approximately 400 pounds, and was said ‘Medically Unfit’ for boxing. He even lost a lot of his money as lawyer’s fees. Many Fight fans predicted that Tyson is done and will never make a comeback. But, it was not over for The Gypsy King.
How Did Tyson Fury fight through depression and make his recovery?
With the help of his family and extreme determination, Fury started his journey to recovery. He made consistent recovery by going back to all the important things like training, eating healthy, meditation, and staying away from negative thoughts. Fury fought like a true warrior and won over his mental health.
In 2018, Fury made his much-awaited comeback against Sefer Seferi after three long years. He won the fight in a dominating fashion and then went on to challenge Deontay Wilder for the WBC heavyweight title. Eventually, Fury won the titles in 2020 after he defeated Wilder in their rematch. Fury is the example of how even the strongest of individuals can fall and hit rock bottom, but even after that anybody can come back from the worse times and achieve what they want.