TYSON FURY “needed someone with him 24/7” at the height of his depression after predicting his mental health battle.
Fury pulled off a stunning upset in 2015 to take Wladimir Klitschko’s unified heavyweight titles.
But he had to relinquish them just a year later after suffering from depression and substance abuse.
Fury ballooned up to 30 STONE and has been open about battling suicidal thoughts during the dark period in his life.
It meant close friends – like boxer Isaac Lowe – kept a close eye on the struggling Gypsy King at all times.
Lowe, 30, said on an episode of Fury Uncovered: “Someone had to be with him 24/7. More or less all the time.
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“You can be the richest man in the world, you can have everything.
“But if you’ve got horrible thoughts going through your head, you’re better being with someone.”
Fury told anyone who would listen for years prior that he would defeat Klitschko – and that he could already see his mental breakdown coming.
Strength and conditioning coach Kristian Blacklock said: “Before he fought Klitschko, I asked him specifically, ‘What are you going to do when you win’?
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“And he said, ‘I’ll be miserable.’ I said, ‘Aren’t you going to go on holiday, with your family, with your kids to celebrate?’
“He goes ‘nah, I’ll probably be really depressed’. It was like his ultimate goal in life, obviously he’s achieved it, where do you go from here?”
Fury did eventually return to the ring in 2018 and remarkably challenged Deontay Wilder for the WBC title the same year.
It ended in a controversial draw which set up a classic trilogy between the duo which Fury, 35, ended with two stoppage wins and the belt.
The heavyweight now returns in the biggest fight of his career on May 18 against Oleksandr Usyk, 37, in Saudi Arabia.
It is set to crown the first ever four-belt heavyweight undisputed champion.
But Fury’s brother Tommy – a 10-0 fighter himself – insisted his sibling has already won his biggest battle.
Tommy, 24, said: “I think the biggest fight that Tyson has ever won and will ever win in his whole entire life is that fight against mental health.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
