Who do you think wins between Fury and Usyk, and can you describe what you think will happen in the fight?

I think Oleksandr Usyk is going to win and I think the fight is going to be a really high-quality chess match. I think Tyson Fury will be behind after about four to five rounds and then he will put his foot to the floor trying to chase Usyk and that'll be the worst thing he can possibly do. As long as Usyk sticks to his game plan, I don't see him being defeated in any way, shape, or form. You've got to remember; that this fight wouldn't even be close. You have to look at this from a normal perspective and a normal perspective is, the only reason this fight is 50-50 and is so close is because one man is 6-foot 8 slash 6 foot 9 and nearly 20 stone. And one man is 6 foot 3, and 15 and a half, 16 stone.

Now, imagine if Oleksandr Usyk was the same size as Tyson Fury. This wouldn't even be spoken about. It wouldn't even be close. If Oleksandr Usyk was the same size as Tyson Fury, he wouldn't lose a round, never mind a fight. The reason that we write him off so much is because he's so much smaller and because he's a former cruiserweight king. That's why this fight is so compelling.

What is your takeaway when you look back on the Usyk fight in 2018?

Not great. I got stopped. So, it's not great but I always get praise for it because I went in there and fought him. I didn't have to. I could have walked away at the time of my life. I was retired, I just got married but I wanted to face the best cruiserweight ever. He called my name. He screamed it when he had all those belts around his waist after he won the Super Six tournament. And I was only happy to oblige. I knew what I was going in with.

He's a truly amazing fighter. He's a gifted individual. He's the best cruiserweight ever. This isn't a guy who took an 18-month hiatus from the game and came back full of muscle. This guy literally left the cruiserweight game, went straight to the heavyweight game, had a couple of nice touches at heavyweight, but then went in with probably at the time one of the most feared heavyweights in the world, Anthony Joshua, the unified heavyweight champion. And against all odds, he beats him. On his own patch, by the way. This guy goes to everyone's patch and beats them up on their patch. And make no mistake, he did the exact same thing to me unfortunately. It doesn’t matter when people say you were ahead in the fight, it doesn’t matter.

What are the things that make Usyk a great fighter?

His feet, his judgement of distance, his variation of shots, his timing, everything. He's the perfect fighter, he's the perfect boxer. The only Snag I would say is, he's not a one-punch hitter, but you can't have everything, mate. What he does is he exhausts you. I mean, in my whole entire career and life, I have never been as tired as I was when I walked out for round eight. Ever.

And make no mistake, he made me that tired. Yes, I might have been ahead. Yes, I was doing great. Yes, I was doing better than everyone expected, but ultimately, I was exhausted going into that eighth round. I can't even remember getting off the stool. The only memory I have of that fight is telling Dave Caldwell in the corner at the end of round 7 how tired I was. And he couldn't believe how tired I was because I was in such good shape. I'd sparred 12 rounds with 3 different sparring partners the week before or 10 days before, sorry. He’s a truly gifted individual. He’s a brilliant fighter, and do you know what’s even worse? He’s an outstanding human being.

If Fury wins, where does that put him in the pantheon of greats?

It puts him as the best heavyweight of his era. That’s one thing it does do. It makes him the best heavyweight of his era without a shadow of a doubt. That's as far as I can say to be honest. I mean, people are comparing it to Lennox Lewis because he'll be the first Undisputed Unified Heavyweight Champion since Lennox Lewis. Does that make him better than Lennox Lewis? Absolutely not. Would he have beat Lennox Lewis? In my opinion, not a chance.

Can Fury's mind games affect Usyk?

No. Been there and tried that. Absolutely no chance. This boy is the most driven individual I've come across in my lifetime. He doesn't even get involved in your petty antics, he doesn't want to. He’ll have a laugh and a joke with you, his head will appear out of nowhere, he’ll be watching you when you think he’s not - But as mind games go, no. I just don't see it at all.

Do you think Usyk will ever achieve more than Evander Holyfield as cruiser/heavyweight?

I already think he's achieved more than Holyfield. I mean, Holyfield goes in and he defeats Tyson after Tyson comes out of prison. He defeats Buster Douglas after the man who defeats Mike Tyson. He beats the man who beats the man, but then when he comes up against Lennox Lewis, he's literally shown what big heavyweights can do. I mean, he comes up against Bo, and he gets stopped against Bo in one of the fights. He loses one on points and wins one. Out of 3 fights, he’s lost 2 and won 1 against Bo. Usyk is still undefeated and he’s beat our era’s version of Bo.

If Fury wins, will he still have to fight Joshua to become the king of the era? And who do you think wins that fight?

It doesn't matter whether he wins, loses or draws, he's fighting Josh. He has to fight Josh because it's the biggest fight out there. That will be his career highest payday when he fights Joshua. It's huge. It's absolutely astronomical. I don't think the fight with Joshua, in all true honesty, has any kind of reflection on his legacy in the game because it's a domestic fight. If it was for all the world titles and it was an ultimate unification undisputed fight then yes I would say it was a big part of his legacy but no I don't think it's going to be a big part of his legacy and will leave a big cement in place on what he does. And I stand by that I've always thought Anthony Joshua knocks out Tyson Fury. Especially in the form he's in right now. You've seen what he did to Ngannou and you have seen what happened with Ngannou and Fury. Now don't get me wrong, styles do make fights, but believe you and me, if Anthony Joshua was in the ring that night Tyson Fury got in the ring with Ngannou, he’d of got knocked out. And it would've been pretty brutal and pretty quick.

Exhibition bouts are all the rage. What would it take for you to get back in the ring?

An awful lot of money.

You've spoken about Usyk downloading his opponents in the ring, which he did to you. What does Tyson need to do differently to combat that?

There's nothing really Fury can do. Fury is predominantly known to struggle with smaller, quicker defensive-minded fighters. We've seen it with the likes of Otto Wallin, we've seen it with the likes of Steve Cunningham, we've seen him struggle against much smaller guys. I think people are a bit shocked that I'm saying this, but it's what I believe. The older version of Tyson Fury under his uncle Peter, I think has a better chance in this fight than he does now with the way he's gone. Tyson Fury's style has changed since he joined Sugar Hill Steward.

Now that was perfect for fighting Deontay Wilder. Deontay Wilder is a fighter who needs to be pushed back. Deontay Wilder is a fighter who needs to be bullied. If you allow Deontay Wilder to press the pace and force you backwards, it's only a matter of time till he knocks you out but you force Deontay Wilder on the back foot and make him fight inside and make him do things that he's not used to, he becomes absolutely useless.

And it takes away his one-shot power. Don't get me wrong, he still can catch you, as he did catch Tyson Fury in each of the three fights, but ultimately, that’s the way to fight him. Well Fury’s now taken that style into every fight since. And you’ve seen that he's been damaged by it massively. Francis Ngannou is a novice boxer. And when I say novice, I mean a raw novice. This guy had his first-ever professional bout against the former Unified. A legitimate heavyweight champion of the world in his first-ever professional fight. And let's not tell any lies here, he could have got the decision. Let's just all be brutally honest. If Francis Ngannou would have had his hand raised against Tyson Fury, no one could have complained. I'm not saying he won. What I'm saying is, that he definitely would have had a fair shout if his hand had been raised. It was one of them, it could have gone either way.

Why could a man having his first-ever professional boxing match push the heavyweight champion of the world so close? He pushed him so close purely because he ran on the back foot, and he used his brain and that's what Tyson Fury hates. Tyson Fury needs you to press him. With that being said, Tyson Fury's style that he has now is Tyson Fury's an aggressive counter puncher. He presses you first for a reaction, then he counters you. And that's the style that he uses. That is the dream opponent for Usyk. Because the minute you press Usyk is the minute you lose. Usyk usually drops to the level of his opponents. You'll watch him fight the likes of Derek Chisora and you'll think, wow, he was pushed really close by Derek Chisora.

He wants to feel the heavyweight's power. And then you're watching him against someone like Murat Gassiev. Murat Gassiev was a phenomenally big punching cruiserweight and former world champion, an outstanding fighter, undefeated until he faced Usyk.

Usyk goes to his backyard again and beats him on his patch, and he did it because Gassiev presses the whole fight and he just gets punched all over the place. The way to beat Usyk is the approach that - I don't want to say this - but I took to him. You've got to surprise him; you've got to bring him something he's not expecting. Usyk expected me to jump all over him and try to knock him out with one big punch. I knew I was never going to catch him with one big shot unless I started bringing him to me. And in the first 6, 7 rounds that I fought him, I brought him to me. I made him miss; I made him pay a few times. Of course, I got caught, but it exhausted me to do it and that was the difference.

If I could go back again, I wouldn't have taken that approach. I would have pressed him and I would have looked for the shot. But fighting a cruiserweight is difficult because he's so fast, he's so sharp, and his feet are so good. The difference in fighting Usyk is that his feet are constantly this far away from you, and that is the most soul destroying thing for a fighter in the world. He’s constantly just this far away. Now that seems like nothing to you guys sitting here, listening and watching me, but your front foot being that far away from someone, for 6, 8, 12 minutes and consistently nonstop, it zaps your brain. It absolutely wears you out. And then, when someone's that far away from your front foot, that means you can hit them.

Just as you reach to hit him, he’s that far, then he’s back there. And that consistently happens all the way through the fight. Now, he’s used to that and his mindset can do it because he's accustomed to it. It's ingrained in him. He's been doing it his whole career. I've been doing that to all the people I face. He did it to me and it f***ing exhausted the life out of me. It made me understand how I've been able to do it to other people in the past. But he's just better than me. Tyson Fury for the first time in his whole entire life is going to face someone who's a better pure boxer than him. Oleksandr Usyk is the best pure boxer the heavyweight division has ever seen. It's just the fact that he's not big enough. That's the only reason that makes these fights close. If he was bigger, no one would win a round, I promise you.

The fact that because he's small and he's this size, it's the only thing that evens them up. I've said it before, the only thing that beats Oleksandr is his size because no one's a better box than him and that includes Tyson Fury, who is a brilliant boxer as well by the way. But he is not a better boxer than Oleksandr Usyk. And you're going to see that in a couple of weeks’ time.

Tyson has flirted with the idea or spoken about his idea with mental health. Do you think he'll struggle to let go of boxing, especially if he loses?

I hope he doesn't. But boxing is an addictive drug. It's horrible. I only know too well. All I can ever do for someone like Tyson Fury is wish him well. He's got a beautiful family. He's got a lovely wife and kids and all I can say is focus on them mate and enjoy your life because boxing isn't everything. I know we go down this mental health path and this stuff, but it's lonely and it's hard. Especially when the lights go off and then you retire because no one cares. Nobody cares. No one wants to hear your sob story. No one gives a sh**. And Tyson, he's already been there and he knows that. So, I hope he's got an exit strategy coming soon because, let's be honest, he doesn't need a single penny. And that's what a lot of people relate to. Why can you be depressed or how can you be struggling mentally when you've got all this money? Money means absolutely f*** all. Any person in the world who's had money will tell you they'll take happiness over money any day of the week. But everyone who's got no money will say they'll take money over happiness every day of the week. Believe me, when you get there and you become financially secure, you'll take f***ing happiness over money every single day, twice on a Sunday.

What can fans expect from your new show with Sam? And will Marvin Humes be involved?

Nothings been confirmed so I don’t know where that’s come from. I don't know. Me and Sam will do something eventually, I'm sure. But right now, I have no idea what someone’s talking about when they tell me and Sam have got a show.

What was it like working with Michael B. Jordan and meeting Sylvester Stallone?

Amazing. I've worked with Michael B. Jordan when he's the lead, just the lead of a movie and I've worked with him when he's the director of a movie in Creed 3. I'm working with him and spending time was brilliant. He's an unbelievable individual. A lovely family-orientated boy and by the way, an amazing athlete. An unbelievably gifted athlete.

Will we see you acting again in the future?

I would love to do it. You've just got to be given another opportunity. I did love doing it. Could I do more? Absolutely yes. And if Guy Ritchie is listening, then I'm here mate.

Would you ever do strictly or any other reality TV show?

No, I don't think Strictly is for me. I'm planning on staying married.

What was the worst part about being in the jungle?

I could write a f***ing book, to be honest. It was horrific. The starvation, the boredom, the weight loss, I can go on and on and on. It was very, very difficult. Very, very difficult.

The drinks were the worst thing that I can think of. I mean, listen, drinking a penis, drinking a brain, drinking vomit fruit, drinking cockroaches. Like I just told you, the list goes on and on. It wasn't nice.

What do you make of the shape of Tyson Fury? It has to be the leanest that we've seen him, but is that going to benefit him?

Yes, it will benefit him. It's no good carrying excess weight. It's all good if you've got extra muscle on you, but extra fat does nothing for you at all, besides helping weigh down your opponents and actually weigh down your performance in the fight. I think he looks in phenomenal shape considering where he's come from and to weigh in a career heaviest against Francis Ngannou, to now probably weighing a career lightest against Oleksandr Usyk, it shows you that he's taking this seriously. I don't believe for a minute he took Francis Ngannou seriously if I'm being totally honest. That's just my opinion. He'll probably say differently, but he didn't take Ngannou seriously.

I do think him being lighter will be a benefit to him but ultimately, you've got to see what it's going to do. He's never been in with anyone like Oleksandr Usyk before. Like I said before, this is the best boxer he's ever faced and you have to put it into context when I say it to you. If Oleksandr Usyk was the same size as Tyson Fury, this wouldn't even be up for debate about who's going to win this fight but, unfortunately, he's not. He's a much smaller man, and he has a lot fewer attributes going against him than Tyson Fury. He's the one on paper. It's David against Goliath again, so it is what it is.

Fury's style under Ben Davison and under Sugar Hill are very different, which style do you think is better suited to beating Usyk?

I think the style under his uncle Peter Fury was the best style that he could have had to beat Usyk. When he was just purely a backfoot fighter and really, really awkward. I think that was the best style possible that would beat Usyk. I genuinely believe that. The Tyson Fury, that goes in the ring with Klitschko in Dusseldorf, I think is an absolute nightmare for someone like Oleksandr Usyk.

That for me is the peak fury. It's not the best fighter to watch. I mean, if I'm being totally honest, it's horrible to watch but I'll tell you what, it's the most effective Tyson Fury you'll ever see. Tyson Fury is not a puncher. He's not a big punching heavyweight. I mean, he punches hard enough to hurt someone like me, I'm a cruiserweight, but amongst the big heavyweights, he's not a big puncher. He's walking fighters down as if he is one. It’s all well and good walking Deontay Wilder down, Deontay Wilder, technically is one of the worst heavyweights of all time. Technically, he is the worst heavyweight champion ever. Technically.

But, he's also one of the biggest punching heavyweights ever, if I'm being totally honest. Deontay Wilder has been shown what you can do to him when a half-decent boxer gets in front of him in Joseph Parker, who is also the same size as me. Put Deontay Wilder on his back foot, put it to him, stay away from his right hand, keep coming away from it, circle around, to your right and Deontay Wilder is lost. And just keep touching him. That's all you've got to do. I mean, Joseph Parker showed that. You also have to remember, Tyson Fury had life and death with Deontay Wilder. And now we're looking at Deontay Wilder going, well, he's just being beat up by Joseph Parker and so how great really is Tyson Fury?

Tyson Fury is a brilliant fighter, make no mistake. The way he defeated Vladimir Klitchko was brilliant. It really was. Going to Dusseldorf 10 years undefeated, all that kind of stuff. It was fantastic. And I think that is the best version of Tyson Fury if he wants to remain undefeated. Because if he carries on with this Cronk style, and the Cronk style is a vicious style, it's a brilliant style. Once again its an aggressive counter-punching style. They draw the lead from you, but they're constantly pressing you with the front foot, they're the one walking forward. They walk you down and they always like a fight. Initially, that's great for certain styles of fights. That's the worst style you can possibly adapt to someone like Usyk.

Do you think Fury is on the decline or do you think Ngannou's performance against him was just a case of him not taking it seriously?

I don't think he took him seriously. I think it's unfair to say he's on the decline. I mean, how old is he now? Heavyweights can fight up to 40 and maybe even more. The higher the weight goes, the more longevity they have in their career. I mean, you've got to look at Bernard Hopkins, the guy was fighting when he was 50, never mind 40.

It's just the higher the weight division, the more you go. The lower the weight divisions, the less longevity you have. I was shocked about Inoue. Inoue is 32, I think. Inoue must be coming towards the end. He won't be far away anyway, I'll tell you that, you'll get two years max out of Inoue in that weight division. It's the gym, it's the sparring, the gym wars that do fighters. And as we've seen Fury, he's now getting injuries, building up to fights, he's now getting cuts and wounds, certain things that are catching up with him now is just age and time, and no fighter can defy that father time is undefeated and he always will be.

The original fight against Usyk was postponed due to Fury's cut. Do you think that'll be a weak spot that Usyk could actually exploit?

Potentially, but I would expect it to be fully healed. Listen, he's sparring now so it is fully healed. It is what it is. Usyk has been cut in fights. We all carry scars and wounds when we walk to the ring. If you believe any fighter in this world, when he's walking to the ring is 100%, you are nuts. Every fighter walking to that ring on fight night, is carrying some kind of injury.

In my last five fights in my career, I was carrying a serious injury walking to the ring in four of them. Don't get me wrong, they didn't play a part in any of the fights because I won four out of five of them fights. The only fight that I was virtually okay for was the BJ Flores fight, which I crashed weight, so wasn't 100% to be fair. In all of the other fights, I was f***ed. I had a major injury going into them. I had a cracked rib for one of them. I had a cracked rib for Usyk. It didn't play any part in the fight. That's not why I lost because he didn't f***ing hit me to the body. You've got to remember mate we're in a combat sport.

We get the sh** knocked out of ourselves, day in, day out. We pay people to beat us up in camp. I have to pay thousands of pounds to sparring partners to beat the sh** out of me. When you look back, it's insane. It only happens in boxing. Some days you’d come out of the gym absolutely f***ed. But then you've just got to hope and believe in your coach, believe in your training, believe in your team, that you're going to get in that ring and be 100% and you're going to be fantastic. I've said it before and I'll say it again, boxers are the greatest liars in the world.

And do you know why they're the greatest liars? Because we lie to ourselves. We sit there on that press conference table on fight week and say ‘I'm in the best shape of my life. I've never felt so good. I've been performing great. My weights are fantastic.’ When really your f***ing weight is not fantastic. You've got at least half a stone to lose. You've been f***ed in camp all the way through. You've had hand injuries, you’ve had niggles, you've had nicks, bumps, scratches. You've had sh** days, good days but you can't say all this. You've just gotta say I've had the best camp ever. It's been fantastic, I'm in unbelievable shape.

And you know what, Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury are both going to say the same thing when they sit there next week. They're going to sit there and go, I'm in the best shape of my life, I look great. I feel great. And to the naked eye, they are all going to look great, they're going to look fantastic.

But let me tell you, behind them f***ing masks that they put on, they've gone through hell. You can't not go through hell and be in the best shape of your life. You have to go through hell. You have to go through so much pain in camp to be in the shape that they'll be in on fight night. And it's so, so hard on your body and fighters aren't honest enough to tell people this, but that's why we're the best liars in the world.

Because I say we lie to ourselves. I used to kid the b****cks off myself. I would tell myself that I'm in good shape. I remember making light heavyweight and thinking, I look absolutely fantastic. I looked like I was on death's door. That's how bad I looked but I would tell myself, I'm in great shape. I'm fantastic. I'm good. I'm going to knock this guy out. When the harsh reality was, I basically starved myself for 12 weeks. I'd been on a minimal diet and then I was killing myself in the gym. And that's what happens.

What would you like to see from Everton next season? What do you think they need to do to perform better?

We need the recruitment to be right and we need to get a few out the door. And they need to believe and trust in the manager. I think that’s what Everton need to do. First of all, we need to fix our off-the-pitch antics because our off-the-pitch debacle has just rammed us into the ground. It's been a really difficult time being an Everton fan. We've had eight points deducted from us this season. We should be a mid-table team, not fighting for relegation. But the Premier League has made an example of us. It is what it is. But next season, I believe they'll probably do the same again. They try to make an example of us.

It's funny, isn't it? How Everton have never been on TV so much but they have been on TV so much towards the end of this season because they thought we were going down. I've never had Everton so much on TV. Never in my lifetime. We're on every other bloody week. And now we are because guess what mate, because they thought we were going down.

What do you make of the fact that Everton might face being forced to sell Pickford if the takeover deal collapses?

I would imagine they're going to have to sell Pickford. So, if we lose Jordan, and we lose Jared Branthwaite, that is part of the spine of our team this season. You've got to remember Everton Football Club are in a relegation fight but yet we've got the second-best clean sheet record, and the fourth defensive-best record in the whole league. That is f***ing insane.

How are you fighting relegation when you've got the fourth-best defensive record in the league, and you've got the second highest amount of clean sheets in the league? That is unbelievable. That just basically tells me you guys can't f***ing hit a cow's ass with a banjo. That's all that says to me. We've had so many injuries, so much back and forth. We just need a clear path and we need to sort the ownership out of the club. Everton are a prime example of thinking that chucking money at everything is the right thing to do. No, it's not. Recruitment is the most important thing in football.

Getting the right people to do the right jobs is the most important thing in football. You can't just think chucking money at stuff is going to make everything okay. That is the biggest myth in football. We need consistency next season and we hopefully need to keep the spine of the team. I'm not stupid, I don't think we can. But let me tell you this, whatever you can keep, keep, and whatever has to go, let go but the recruitment with the money that goes out has to be really good to bring it back in. Like, you have to have your eyes on quality. If you lose Jordan Pickford, there is not a better person we can buy than Jordan Pickford.

Jordan Pickford is one of the best English goalkeepers of all time. The kid's an absolute cat. He's unbelievable. He's really good. If it wasn't for Jordan Pickford, Everton would have been down twice. And not just Jordan Pickford, Taki has been fantastic, Jared Branthwaite has been fantastic. Defensively, we are really good. When Conor Coady and Taki were linked up, they were really good. I've just got to keep everyone fit and keep fighting to the end. But next season is pivotal, it really is, because we can't go to that f***ing new stadium and be in the championship. I don't care how we get through next season, just remain in the Premier League.

For Fury and Usyk, Joe Cordina is on the undercard for this. How do you think you'll get on against Anthony Cacace?

I think Joe Cordina is one of the best talents the country has. I think he's absolutely exceptional. He's a brilliant, brilliant fighter. He really is. I'd expect to see Joe Cordina win, to be totally honest. Cacace is a decent fighter, but I don't think he's shown that he’s at that level. He doesn't have wins over the likes of your Rakhimov’s, and the people like that, and Joe Cordina does.

Joe Cordina, as I said before, is a brilliant fighter. He really is. I just think he's a couple of fights short of becoming a superstar. You've just got to be very careful how you match someone like Joe Cordina at this stage now because he's going to want unification fights, but it's got to be the right fight at the right time for someone like Joe Cordina. He's got a brilliant team around him. He's got a fantastic coach in Tony Sims. He’ll be looked after, but I'd say the right fight at the right time is what Joe Cordina needs.

Having fought Usyk yourself, do you think he's changed much as a boxer now from when you're watching him as a pundit or as a spectator?

No. He does everything exactly the same. His footwork is still outstanding, exceptional. The only thing I see now is that these guys can't actually get close to him because they don't have good enough feet or they can't draw his lead like I could. It's very hard to draw someone like Usyk's lead because he's studying and watching everything you do. Like he knows what you're going to do. With someone like me, he didn't expect what I was going to do, so he hadn't seen that side of me. I never fought anyone like Usyk before but he’d fought people like me on paper, strong punchers who come forward. And that's what he prepared for when he fought me but when he actually got in the ring with me, he realised that I was totally different and that was the last thing that I actually was.

I mean, his style adapts with each and every fight and each and every opponent. He will change and adapt for Fury. We will see Usyk do things in the Fury fight that he's never done before in my opinion. The only result that I'll wipe out from this whole fight, the only result that will completely shock me in this fight and that's Oleksandr Usyk stopping Tyson Fury. That is the only result that I can't see happening. Everything else, I can make a case for. I can make a case for Fury getting on top of Usyk, leaning on him, pushing him down, exhausting him. I don't think that'll happen, but it could if Tyson Fury adopts the right tactics.

My opinion on how the fight will go is that Usyk will be ahead, Fury will chase, and he will lose wide on points. Do you know what the most important thing in this fight is? That we get adequate judges in.

We get the right judges to score this fight. Honest judges. Not judges who've had bad performances in the past. We need transparent judging in this fight. I even think the judges should be made to explain after the fight, their cards. Because this fight goes to points in my opinion. And I just think people have got to be culpable for their cards. It's a huge thing. You need transparent judges in this fight. If anything, I'd love to see an open score. If I'm being totally honest.

This is the first undisputed fight heavyweights have had in 20 years. You need transparency. And you need accountable judging. They've got to be accountable. They've got to be made to answer the questions after the fight on why they scored the way they have. I believe that in all big fights, they should be made to do that, and it would stop a lot of the daft decisions that we see, to be honest.

How do you think you'd have gone against Fury if you'd have fought him?

I could never have beaten him. Unless he was coming off that three-year hiatus and I tried to face him after. When David Haye pulled out of the rematch to face me, I met with Tyson Fury in a car park. In Haydock race course. We walked into the Holiday Inn or whatever it was, and we had a meeting there, just me and him. And we spoke about it.

And he just said, I need a warm-up fight. I said you can't have a warm-up fight. And he said, well if I don't have a warm-up fight, you've got a chance of beating me.

And I said that's the f***ing whole point I'm here. And he just laughed. So yeah, I think I could have beat him with a three-year hiatus, 100%, I was in the best form of my career.

I mean, the David Haye rematch is the pinnacle for me. You see, that's the best of me. I was absolutely perfect that night. I was on fire. No one wanted to beat me that night. Had I got in the ring with Tyson Fury after being out of the ring for three years and drinking himself into a right state, and doing whatever else he was doing, I think I would have beat him. But, if Tyson Fury had a warm up, he would have beat the living sh** out of me.

What do you make of all the noise from Tyson Fury's camp every time he fights? Do you think it's part and parcel of the game, or does it actually get on your nerves?

It doesn't get on my nerves at all. His brothers are lovely people. I like his brothers. Shane, and also the younger brothers, I think they're good people. I think the world of them. I think his dad says silly things at times, but I know the Furys have been around, I've spent time around them. I think his dad's just trying to protect his son. He does it in a stupid way at times and what’s to make things about him which isn't very bright. His uncle Peter Fury is a lovely gentleman. A great fella. Really nice man. Very, very articulate. Very smart when it comes to boxing. Knows the sport inside out. I like Peter Fury. So, the Fury's on a whole, I like them and I would say, his poor brothers go through hell because they're watching their brother get punched in the f***ing face. Do you understand how dangerous boxing is? When you get to the levels that we're fighting at and you're facing the likes of Oleksandr, it's one of the most dangerous sports in the world.

It's the most damaging combat sport in the world. Because of all these other f***ing combat sports, there are other ways to lose. Whether it's mixed martial arts, I can kick you in the legs, I can choke you out, I can make you tap. In boxing, you get punched in the f***ing head. 99 % of fights are finished with punches to the head and it's the most damaging sport in the world. And his brothers are sitting there having to watch that. They're frightened. Oleksandr Usyk's wife will be sitting there watching. She's terrified. She's frightened. His parents, everyone's scared, mate. They really are. How my dad did it, I’ll never know. Sat there watching. How my wife did it, I’ll never know. But it's hard. It really is and I feel for these brothers because they just want him to stop. I know because I've spoken to them. I've had chats with them. They just want him to stop and walk away from them because he's still alive. He's still got all his faculties intact. Everyone just wants him to stop. And I know they do because I've spoken to his brothers and I think they are good honest nice men. And it's hard. It really is. I couldn't put into words what they’re going through. I don't know how my old fella watched me going through what I used to go through is beyond me because I could never watch my kids. Over my f***ing dead body.

Eddie Hearn has said that he wants Joshua to fight both Fury and his rematch with Usyk this year. Can you actually see that happening or not?

Does he want both fights to happen this year? He doesn’t want much does he. Thankfully, he's not taking the f***ing punches. Whatever, I mean that can't happen. That's impossible. But listen Eddie makes impossible sh** happen. He took boxing to Saudi Arabia. He was the first one to do it. So, he makes impossible sh** happen. Never say f***ing never when he's talking.

Should boxing change and see everyone governed by one body instead of four separate ones?

That's not possible because there are too many agendas in boxing. All the governing bodies should circulate to one body if that makes sense? So, there should be one overriding organisation over everything. And the four bodies, the WBC, the WBA, the IBF and the WBO, should all coincide within this one body. So, they should all put money in together and they all own 25% of this body that I'm talking about.

But then that comes under one set of rules, one set of drug testers, and that's how boxing needs to be. They can all still get the money, they will still fight for the WBC title, you'll still fight for the WBA, the IBF, and WBO, but ultimately, they will all reside under one set of rules and all the sanctioning bodies and all of the governing bodies and all of the states and all of the commissions, they will partake under these one set of rules of boxing. That's what needs to happen.

And each of the governing commissions, they pay into this pot, they pay into this organisation and that's how you run boxing. Because that's when then, things like, you've got fighters who are banned with certain organisations and states and then just I mean - look what's just been done with Mike Tyson, Jake Paul. How the f*** has that been getting registered as a professional bout? It's got 14-ounce gloves and you're fighting two-minute rounds. What the f*** is going on? Who's commissioned and who's approving that? That idiot Jake Paul just wants to be on Mike Tyson's record. I mean, this is f***ing insane.

I know what Mike's doing. Mike doesn't give a sh** anymore, and I understand why he doesn't give a sh** about his record, but how are you passing this? Mike Tyson's whole career has been fought over three-minute rounds. How is he allowing a two-minute round bout to go on his professional record?

This is just because of the pure audacity and the f***ing class of someone like Jake Paul wanting to go on Mike Tyson's professional resume. It's insane and if boxing was all governed under one set of rules, then all professional fights would be over three-minute rounds.

The women's code is over two-minute rounds, not the men's. The men's is over three-minute rounds. So why is a bout over two-minute rounds being deemed as a professional bout? It's a disgrace. It's an absolute piss take. But that's the way to make boxing great again. Boxing is becoming great again and I must say this, people won't like what I'm about to say, but boxing's being made great again because the best are fighting the best, and that's down to his excellency Turki Alalshikh. He's going to end up making all the big fights happen and the big fights haven't been able to happen because of the likes of, your promoters, your managers. All have got these agendas, and now he's actually taking that into his own hands and he's making it happen. He's changing it up. He's changing the game and I can't give him enough credit to be fair. We're seeing the great fights we've always wanted to see and that's down to Turki Alalshikh. We are all getting there, but there also is a way that you can make boxing transparent and make it do the right things.

And that, in my opinion, is ultimately doing what I've just said. All the governing bodies, all the sanctioning bodies, all the states, all of these things, coinciding inside a set of rules and these rules can't be broken. That's how you then make boxing great again.

How would you fare if you were to cross over into MMA? It’s not something we’ve seen a lot of boxers do.

I haven't got a f***ing chance, mate. Are you joking? They’d just pick me up off the floor and slam me and choke the f***ing life out of me. But then if they get in a boxing ring with me, there's not a mixed martial artist in the world who could keep up with me in a boxing ring. But if I go in their domain, they're going to f***ing eat me alive. I mean, I've wrestled with guys and I understand the art of wrestling. You've got no f***ing chance, mate.

If someone knows Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, you're f***ed. Like, I've got no chance, and I've got a puncher's chance, and they take that away the minute they take me off the f***ing floor. So, why any fighter or boxer believes he's going to do well in mixed martial arts is f***ing beyond me. You obviously haven't been in a gym and trained with mixed martial artists. I have, and unfortunately, it's not a f***ing pleasant experience. It's a painful one, and it's over pretty quickly too if they want it to be. But make no mistake, you flip that coin over, you come into a boxing ring, I would embarrass any mixed martial artist in a boxing ring, but make no mistake, as I've just said, flip that coin back over, they would embarrass me in a f***ing octagon.

Well, they would embarrass me in a boxing ring if they could use their rules, but thankfully boxing and mixed martial arts are two totally different sports. It's like saying, Johnny Wilkinson, could he take a better free kick than David Beckham? They both kick a ball absolutely f***ing tremendously well, they both hit the best free kicks the f***ing world's ever seen.They both kick a ball, but they’re two totally different f***ing balls, mate. You know, it's like saying, well, you both played with a ball, the sports must be similar, but they’re not. Mixed martial arts and boxing are exactly the same as rugby and football. They’re as different as night and day.

It's a certain skill set that you've got, and in mixed martial arts, the skill set is so broad. You’ve got guys trying to master five different disciplines, whether it's Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, boxing, Thai boxing, wrestling. F*** me, there's even more f***ing mad sports that they want to do, Karate, Judo, all this crazy sh** they do. Like, I don't even know how they walk because they're trying to work on that many different f***ing disciplines.

But yeah, no boxer's got a chance against a f***ing guy in mixed martial arts. No chance whatsoever. And you know what, if they meet, I'll just tell you this really quick. Francis Ngannou is the most dangerous man in the whole f***ing entire world. No one is going into a room with that man and coming out alive. That f***er is the hulk. He's not a boxer, make no mistake, but if you go into a room with that man, you aren’t coming out. I don't give a f*** who you are. The only man who's got a chance of coming out of a room with that guy is Jon Jones. And guess what, he's sh** hot too. So, the Mixed Martial Artist guys are from different breeds, mate.

No one's beating one of the guys. F*** that. Someone comes at me on the street, I'm running. Now I'm not running from f***ing no one. But If I see Francis Ngannou and he's got a problem, guess what? I'm on toes.

You've mentioned that you'd like to get a game of golf lined up with Sam who's in the jungle, we just wondered if you had any favourite golf courses at all that you're thinking of taking him to and how do you think he'll get on against you?

We're probably going to play Wentworth. He's not going to beat me at golf. Definitely not. We'll probably go to Wentworth. We've got a couple of mutual friends at Wentworth, but we'll go all over the place. I'm probably going to start my own golf channel pretty soon. So that should be fun. I'm doing it with Leon Roll, who's a locksmith, and he's going to be with us playing golf, and we're going to start this channel off together. Keep your eyes peeled, something's coming soon. Me and my f***ing addiction to golf is not very good. But, I'm trying.

I'm not sure if you talk politics much, but you once called yourself or someone called you, "Tony Bellew the working-class hero". And I just wondered if you had any thoughts on the current political situation, whether we should have a general election.

I think the country is a f***ing mess. I think the country is an absolute sh** show from top to bottom.

They really need to start prioritising the youth and thinking about what they’re doing for these kids. Nearly every youth centre that I spent my life in as a kid growing up in is now shut down. You look at these kids and what's going on with knives and guns on the streets, it's f***ing mayhem. Education is key. Give these kids a way out. Show them what a full-time job is. Update the curriculum. Update the system. Everybody sitting on this call right now has probably either been to school. I'm sure you’re all probably bright boys there. Tell me how many things that you learned from senior school that you're taking today in today's world, or that you're taking to your everyday job. Because I didn't use absolutely f*** all I learned in school from taking forward.

Why aren't we creating entrepreneurs? Why aren't we creating business owners? Why aren't we teaching kids about taxes when they're in school? Why aren't we teaching kids about how to handle money and learn, to save money? Why aren't we teaching kids about the interest rate? All these things. It's just a shock. You come out of school and you're f***ed. You don't know anything. You don't know how to live, how to survive. I've had every single job under the sun. Thankfully, I had the dream of becoming a world-champion boxer.

Thankfully that worked out, but if it didn't work out, I didn't have anything f***ing else for a backup plan besides life on the street. Teach these kids how to live. Teach these kids how to look after themselves. Teach these kids what they can possibly do. So, there's so much more that this government can do and should do for the kids that are dying right now. I genuinely believe that. So, fingers crossed they do.

But for me and politics, I haven't got a f***ing clue. I'm a punchy former world champion, what do I know about politics? What I do know is that they are all lying bastards. And what we vote them to actually do, they don't actually do when they get in power. They just do what they want to do.

And that's the truth and fact of it all. We vote these people in, and then when they get in, by what we voted them to do, they don't do, and they do what the people are paying them to do. And that's just politics for you. So, they're all corrupt bastards, if you ask me. And they sh** on the north of the country. Everyone north of the Watford Gap they think are gobsh**es. Guess what, they're not.

With the Euros, they're around the corner. How are you actually feeling about that? Are you confident at all or how do you think it's going to go?

I'm always confident as an England fan. I mean, the best player in the world plays for us. I think Jude Bellingham right now is the best player in the whole world and he's English.

We've got a chance against anyone. I think Phil Foden is an absolutely unbelievably gifted talent. I think Harry Kane on his day is a formidable striker. We've got one of the best goalkeepers in the world in Jordan Pickford. We've got quality at the back in the likes of, John Stones, your Trent Alexander Arnold’s. You've got some amazing players, your Kyle Walker’s, England are blessed with some absolutely outstanding, frightening talent.

You've got Declan Rice in the defensive midfield. There's so much talent amongst them young lads. They just need to put it all together in one tournament. And they nearly did. I was there when we lost to Italy. Very, very unfortunate. And hopefully this time it's our time. Fingers crossed.