Tyson Fury interview: The Gypsy King previews his WWE debut and what's coming next in boxing

Tyson Fury will step into a WWE ring for the first time on Thursday afternoon.

Boxing's lineal heavyweight champion is facing Braun Strowman at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia and head of his debut, GIVEMESPORT caught up with the Gypsy King in London.

Fury is very well known for putting on a show, but WWE is a different beast to boxing. So just how involved is he going to be with the 'Monster Among Men'?

"Let’s just say everybody is going to be shocked," the British heavyweight said during a roundtable interview.

Normally, when combat athletes cross over into WWE, we don't see them take too many bumps inside the ring - with the obvious exception of Ronda Rousey - so it's exciting to hear that Fury wants to be busy.

But right now, he isn't planning on making a career in wrestling.

"No, not really," Fury said when asked if this will be more than a one-off match.

"Most guys finish with their careers before going to WWE to start a fresh new adventure.

"I’m going to WWE as a current lineal heavyweight champion of the world. It’s a bit different. I’ve got a long time left in boxing. Who knows what the future holds.

"At the moment no, but never say never."

So what exactly is a boxing champion doing taking a fight in WWE? Fury revealed even his own advisors are against the idea, as they think he's jeopardising his career by stepping inside the ring.

"I didn’t tell them, they would have advised me not to do it. But I wouldn’t be Tyson Fury AKA the Gypsy King if I wasn’t spontaneous.

"[They say I'm jeopardising my boxing career and] I agree with them," he continued.

"But I love WWE and I think it’s great for entertainment. It’s great for me and my career. I took the bull by the horns and I’m cracking on. If I get injured I get injured."

Of course, there will still be skeptics who think this appearance is nothing more than a moneymaker for Fury. After all, wrestling is fake, right?

Well, take it from the man himself, Thursday's match with Braun will get dangerous.

"Ask my shoulder, back and leg is it real? Absolutely painful, absolutely. I’ve been speaking to some of the guys who have had so many injuries. It's quite a dangerous sport to be fair.

"I think you’re more likely to pick up injuries in WWE than in boxing. Because a professional boxing fight is really clean.

"In this, it’s like you’ve got a monster running at you and picking you up. If it’s fake, I’d advise anybody to come to WWE’s training centers and have a go yourself and see how fake it is."

Despite the clear risks, Fury revealed that it didn't take much persuading to get him on board and everything happened very quickly.

"I didn’t take a lot of persuading. I got a phone call for this at 7 pm on Wednesday evening. I was on the plane by 6 am the following morning. It took no persuading at all.

"Nobody knew about it until afterward, until I was in the audience on SmackDown."

Why was he so keen to be a part of Crown Jewel? Despite what many think, it wasn't for the money. It's about fulfilling life long dreams of competing in a sport he dreamed of as a kid.

"It’s lucrative, but at this stage of the game and all the fights I’ve had and all the ‘lucrativity’ I’ve had, it’s not only about that," he said.

"For me, it’s about enjoying life and taking it as it comes. Take it this way - I grew up watching WWE from a little boy.

"I get to be a successful boxer years later, then I’ve been invited to go and see these superstars I used to watch on TV and envy, and they were my heroes.

I can go backstage and chill with those guys, go to the bar and have a beer with Ric Flair. Is that not a life experience? Who wouldn’t want to do that?

"I want to go backstage and chill with the Rock and Hulk Hogan. I’m living my best life."

After his match with Strowman, Fury is expected to return to boxing. But is there anything he thinks can be learned from this experience?

"The entertainment side of WWE is fantastic but it’s totally different to boxing," the Gypsy King said.

"The entertainment they can build up, but it’s a different sport so you can’t compare WWE with boxing. You can’t compare UFC with it either.

"UFC champions have only had one or two defenses, look at Khabib. Braun Strowman had 192 matches last year. That’s impossible for a fighter to do."

We still don't know when or where Fury will next be boxing, but even the chance of suffering an injury this week doesn't bother the man himself.

In fact, he claims there's nothing left to learn in boxing, so this match with Strowman is a free hit.

Nobody can teach me how to box. I was a gym rat, I’ve gone from being on that floor crawling to holding titles above my head.

"No one is going to teach me anything about boxing. What I don’t know about boxing ain’t worth knowing. I’m unbeaten in 11 years, I’m 35 fights unbeaten.

"I’ve won five world championships and I’m still only 31. I don’t need to learn boxing. I can box with my eyes closed. I know every move there is. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. It’s like riding a bike. I’ll always be able to do it."

On the subject of greatest athletes of all-time, Fury also revealed his respect for those who have dominated their sports over the years.

"Surely the greatest athletes of all-time are those who have been dominating their sport for 20 years.

"Brilliant athletes like Roger Federer, Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton is getting there now.

"The Williams sisters. Even the guy who I beat, Wladimir Klitschko, he was on top for so long. The people who have been on top of their sports for so long, they are the best athletes."

And with that little tribute to the greatest of all-time, our chat with Fury was almost done. But he did have one final message for Strowman ahead of their match at Crown Jewel.