On May 18th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the highly anticipated Ring of Fire boxing tournament will take place, featuring a main event that boxing enthusiasts have eagerly awaited. In this historic bout, two undefeated heavyweights, Tyson Fury and Alexander Usyk, will vie for the first undisputed world championship of the 21st century in the heavyweight division. Fury holds the WBC belt, while Usyk owns the WBA, WBO, and IBF titles. Both fighters are expected to be in optimal condition for the match. The “Gypsy King” has even undertaken another significant weight cut. Apparently dissatisfied with his performance against Francis Ngannou, where he did not appear at his best and even suffered a knockdown, Fury is approaching this training camp with heightened seriousness. Facing a faster and lighter opponent, he has decided to lose weight—dropping 20 kilograms, as disclosed by his nutritionist, Greg Marriott: “I can promise you that you will see a different Tyson Fury. Whatever I tell Tyson, he sticks to it. He trusts me completely and knows he will be in great shape. He’s happy knowing he’s already in fantastic form. He no longer needs to worry about losing weight. We’ve already done that.”
Weight cutting has become a standard part of Fury’s preparation for fights. He peaked in 2015 with a victory over Vladimir Klitschko, which seemed to mark the beginning of Tyson’s sporting greatness. However, the situation took a downturn as Fury was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a condition he has battled since childhood. This led to a constant struggle with psychological issues. Fury began consuming alcohol heavily, drinking up to 10 liters of beer a day to dull his mental anguish, compounded by family issues and tragedies.
During a bout of depression, Fury significantly gained weight, reaching 180 kilograms, casting doubts on his status as one of the planet’s best boxers. He stopped training altogether: “I’ve been facing many personal demons. I haven’t been to the gym in months. I’m experiencing depression and just don’t want to live anymore… All the money in the world, fame and praise mean nothing if you are unhappy. I’ve been seeing psychiatrists. They say I have a type of bipolar disorder, manic-depressive psychosis.” In 2016, Fury lost all his belts, and it seemed his career was dimming. He urgently needed help and decided to pause his professional life. A year later, the Gypsy King realized that without boxing, he risked ruining himself completely. Fury adopted a strict ketogenic diet—a low-carb, high-fat diet with moderate protein—which allowed him to triumphantly return to sports. Most importantly, Tyson realized he could handle significant weight loss without issues. Fury began working with Conor McGregor’s nutritionist, George Lockhart, who ensured his diet was meticulously balanced: “I made sure he got all the necessary micronutrients, vitamins, and minerals. Nothing was processed. I didn’t want that in his diet. Everything he ate was organic and grass-fed.”
It seemed impossible to improve on such a rigorous diet, but Fury proved otherwise. In preparation for his fight against Francis Ngannou, he lost an even more substantial amount of weight: “Will I box him? No, I will try to knock him out. If the opportunity arises, I’ll knock him out in the first round, if not, later. Remember, we have 10 rounds, three minutes each. I’ve been training for 12 weeks, although I usually train for five to six weeks. I haven’t fought since last year. I lost 68 kg in four weeks thanks to the keto diet.” Fury is doing something incredible with his body. Of course, it’s likely to have a significant impact on his health. But for now, Tyson’s body is handling the most severe strains. It will be interesting to see in what condition the Gypsy King will enter the ring against Usyk and whether he will be able to compete with Alexander in terms of speed and footwork.