“It has been a long, hard road,” said Tyson Fury via Zoom media call last week to promote the fight reflecting upon the historic career he has had in the heavyweight division so far. “….I am just really happy to be a part of a job that I love to do.”

Most fighters lack perspective. Often we see the following in terms of a prospects trajectory – Win a big fight, get known as a generational fighter, and then spend money to show they’re now in a different league than other fighters from the cars they drive to the clothes they wear. With 94,000 people expected to attend the massive fight, it is hard not to get arrogant.

You can order the fight here.

What makes Fury interesting is his somewhat morbid and honest reflection on mortality disguised as a dialogue in time.

“I am obsessed with time,” said Fury in the most interesting part of a rather generic media call. “Us, human beings only have certain moments in time, and these are my moments in time, and I have to take every second as a blessing because that’s what it is.”

I think most fighters probably feel immortal and have no deep view of life outside of the ring, Fury seems to be motivated by making the most of every moment in his career, because he knows one day he won’t be able to compete, and that is rare in a world-class athlete to have that insight. One can’t think about how many entertainers, who make people smile, often are deeply troubled, and for all the joy Fury brings, I think his well-documented battles with mental health are shown clearly in his view of time. Fury understands we have a limited amount of it, and though it motivates him, it also towards the end of his career seems to also engulf him a bit as well.

Fury has been one of the most interesting figures in the past decade, and fight fans probably don’t understand we probably just have one or two more bouts with him, more than likely none of them taking place in America moving forward. What has made Fury so interesting is the complexity – an advocate for mental health awareness yet someone who at one point had questionable ties to groups law enforcement isn’t fond of. Fury is the modern athlete in the sense that I like some aspects of him, not unlike seemingly all modern great athletes, as we seem to now know too much about celebs to the point we understand some of their flaws, and the complexity it is to be a human being.

For those unaware, Fury may not have a lot of marquee wins on his resume, but his three major wins against Wladimir Klitschko, who was undefeated for some time, and thought to have killed the division, in Germany, Klitschko’s home area, followed by a draw and two knockout wins over Deontay Wilder give him the most impressive heavyweight wins of the past decade. Furthermore, Fury was a part of the best modern heavyweight trilogy with Deontay Wilder, and outside of Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier, no other trilogy comes close at heavyweight. In short, Fury’s best moments have made the sport of boxing stop and take notice, and at his best, he is an all-time great.

The undercurrent to this fight on PPV is also Dillian Whyte, a man who has rejected all forms of media and promotion opting to train in silence. Whyte resembles a movie villain, big in stature, intimidating, and fights like a modern-day Sonny Liston, with power, power, and more power.

That being said we have two schools of thought on Whyte – 1) Whyte is simply a guy who has fought in the U.K., and cleaned up the fighters other world-class fighters have fought as he waited for another big fight after losing to Anthony Joshua, or 2) that Whyte was avoided during his prime due to his power and cardio combination that made him a fearsome foe for anyone.

One thing is true – the heavyweight division has four main fighters right now or over the last few years, Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder – and whoever beat Anthony Joshua, which we’ve seen be Andy Ruiz and Usyk. Outside of those fights, we have some interesting contenders such as Joe Joyce, Tony Yoka, and even Jared Anderson, but like many eras of heavyweight boxing – you have the great fighters, and the fighters the great ones beat. Whyte got stuck for years facing those.

Now Whyte gets a chance to write his story in front of a historic crowd of at Wembley Stadium in a fight that will define his career.

For Fury, the questions linger. Can Fury look good against a fighter who he might not look at as his equal? Also, can Fury cement himself as the best heavyweight from his era in the United Kingdom, as it seems to be a debate between himself and Lennox Lewis will be the talk of the ages, but for that to happen he needs to win this one?

In America, the fight is muted, and let’s be honest this fight isn’t for us. This is a celebration of two of the biggest heavyweights of their era.

You can order the fight here