On Tyson Fury’s current situation

“It’s been a very unfortunate situation with Tyson Fury and the heavyweight division. I think his rematch with Wladimir Klitschko was a really big, and highly anticipated fight. People were unsure whether Fury had the fight of his life or Klitschko had the worst fight of his life. People wanted to see, was Tyson Fury the real deal? Although he proved it on the night, a lot of people said that was more of Wladimir not performing than Tyson overperforming. That’s what really got everybody excited for the second fight.

“It’s come to light he had some depression issues, some mental health issues that are very, very traumatic. And obviously the flagged dope test, and the alleged cocaine in his system, it’s all looked very bleak for the whole of Team Fury. He’s had his license suspended. Hopefully they’re not going to be too harsh on him. He just seems like a young man who has lost his way. That’s it.

“I don’t know him personally. I’ve never really had a conversation like this with him, in all the years he’s been around. Everybody I know who does know him all say he’s a lovely guy. They say he’s a nice guy, all the stuff he says in the press and the media, he says just to hype fights. He’s got a family, he needs to support them. The sooner he can get back in the ring, the best.

“It doesn’t help the division, in my opinion. The heavyweight division will miss a character like Tyson Fury while he’s away.”

On boxing’s unique relationship with depression

“Boxing is a strange sport. It’s a hundred miles an hour in training camp, you have a fight, you’ve got tens of thousands of people cheering for you, and it’s on television, and you’ve got millions of pounds. It’s all great, then bang, it stops. It’s all over. You’ve just got to get on with your life. Such highs to such lows. Some people struggle through those lows. You’re used to everything happening around you, then everything just stops.

“I’ve had issues in the past, when I was in my early career, and I didn’t know how to handle those quiet periods. I’d just lock myself in a room and just — you feel bad, you feel bad, you watch something on television that’s a bit dreary, then it’s in the winter, so there’s no sun, and if the sun is out, it’s covered in clouds. It’s dark and gloomy, and it gets on top of you.

“Fortunately, I’ve never been as gond as it seems Tyson Fury is, but even the little snicker of depression I’ve had in my career, I can relate and understand why he’s fell off the rails, as he has. He’ll need some time alone with his family to gather himself and get back on track. He’ll be back, 100 percent he’ll be back. He needs to get away for a bit, get out of the spotlight.

“I’m sure every time he picks a paper up, he reads something about himself, which makes him feel worse. Or he goes on social media and hears people ranting about him, his fans who are disappointed, who may have bought tickets — bit by bit, it probably gets to him. He’s probably going to get some type of ban, so I’m sure whatever that ban may be, when it gets lifted, he’ll be back and fighting at top level boxing.”