Video: Tyson Fury Says He 'Prayed to God to Kill Me' After Heavyweight Title Win
June 10, 2019
In an E:60 interview with Jeremy Schaap, heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury said that he prayed to God to kill him after defeating Wladimir Klitschko for the unified title.
"It doesn't get any darker than not wanting to live," Fury said (h/t Khadrice Rollins of Sports Illustrated). "That's as dark as it can go I suppose. And that's where I was at in my life. I prayed to God to kill me. I'd wake up in the morning and I'd say, 'Why did I wake up again? Why am I back in this place I don't want to be?'"
He explained he was "very unwell" and that it didn't matter he had family or success in the ring.
Fury defeated Klitschko in November 2015 to win the IBF, IBA, WBO and WBC titles, but he either vacated or was stripped of them in the months that followed. He tested positive for cocaine and reportedly weighed up to 400 pounds during an absence that lasted almost three years before returning to the ring in 2018.
"Nobody will ever really know how far I came back, apart from my immediate family," he added.
The boxer won his first two matches upon his return, improving his career record to 27-0 before earning a draw against Deontay Wilder last December. He is now set to face Tom Schwarz on Saturday.
