TYSON FURY credits the man he is named after — Mike Tyson — with life advice that has helped him handle family tragedy.
The 34-year-old WBC heavyweight world champion lost his cousin Rico Burton in August when he was murdered in a knife attack.
And Fury’s wife Paris has bravely spoken out about losing two babies, one through a difficult stillbirth.
Personal pain and punches all seem to bounce off the 6ft 9in Gypsy King but he has revealed some wise words from the 56-year-old reformed “baddest man on the planet” Mike Tyson helped him cope with grief.
The 32-0-1 superstar said: “It’s very traumatic for any parent to lose a child and recovering is just a process. I look at it as the circle of life.
“Some people just get longer than others. Some people live to 100 and some young children are called away very young.
“Routine helps, dwelling can drag you down.
“Life moves on and time is a good healer, you need to look at the positives and not dwell on anything. With miscarriages, baby losses and any family tragedies, you have to let things go.
“I had a cousin murdered back in August, we were really close, slept in the same bed as kids and that was depressing when I realised I would never see him again.
“But life goes on and you have to appreciate the good times that you have had.
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“I was with Mike Tyson once and he said he was looking forward to death.
“He said that life had been so great that surely death would be too. And I thought he had a valid point.”
Tomorrow’s trilogy dance with Derek Chisora, 38, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium should springboard Fury into an undisputed March decider with WBA, IBF and WBO boss Oleksandr Usyk.
The Anthony Joshua mega-fight could always be his pension plan after that clash.
But with movie offers flying in from Hollywood, we can expect to see him on the silver screen very soon, following on from Vinnie Jones' switch from sporting hardman to movie villain.
He said: “I am sure there will be a luxurious and fancy career for me after boxing. I have the likes of Sylvester Stallone and Guy Ritchie calling me up and offering me films, movie parts.
“I have been offered Jason Statham and Mark Wahlberg films. I am doing a Netflix series and there might be another series after that.
My dream was to be heavyweight champion
Tyson Fury
“Stallone’s dream was to make the Rocky movies and he is still doing them now when he is in his seventies.
“My dream was to be heavyweight champion and I am still doing it in my thirties.”
Fury takes inspiration from golden oldies like Larry Holmes and George Foreman, who were still starring in heavyweight world title clashes well into their forties.
But he has an eye on out-of-work Cristiano Ronaldo’s recent decline and recognises his wild life outside of the ring might count against him having similar longevity to the Portugal ace or his American heroes.
He said: “I am 34 and I have plenty of miles on the clock. It’s hard getting through these camps.
“All the top athletes are pretty worn out by this age, even footballers.
“Ronaldo is 37 but he has lived an unbelievably professional lifestyle, had the best of everything, doctors, physios, and even he is still declining.
I am the wily old veteran who can scrape through now
Tyson Fury
“I have done nothing but drink alcohol and use recreational drugs. I burned the candle at both ends.
“I am not the hungry young lion any more, I am the wily old veteran who can scrape through now.”
Although, if he can stave off injury for a few more years, though, there is a growing chance he could end up being a world champion grandad!
Daughter Venezuela, his first of six children, recently turned 13 and Fury seems to like the idea of being a young grandpa who can still beat up all the young bucks in his forties.
He revealed: “Time has been an obsession for me for a long time but right now I can really enjoy it and being in Morecambe helps that.
“I can sit by the window in my house, overlooking the bay and not realise that an hour has gone by.
“I have been a professional for 14 years now. My daughter was born a year later. Where the hell has that time gone? My daughter is now 13. She has gone from being a tiny baby to half a lady.
“She was a little girl just a couple of years ago and now I know we are not far away from her having boyfriends, moving out and having a family of her own.
“In our culture we get married very young so in a few years she could be gone and married and I could be grandad Tyson before 40.”