Tyson Fury – the WBC heavyweight champion and a lifelong United fan has told Christiano Ronaldo to accept the slide off from his real self.
Speaking on talkSPORT show, the British boxer noted that age is something that will also reflect on the performance level of any athlete.
Fury’s comment is coming on the backdrop of Ronaldo’s being left out of Portugal’s 6-1 win over Switzerland in the round of the world cup in Qatar. The 37 year old super star had already been criticised by head coach Fernando Santos for his reaction to being substituted during the Group H clash with South Korea.
He stated his iconic victory over Wladimir Klitschko in 2015 as a one of the moment in his career that’s tied to his age.
“At the time, beating Klitschko was the Everest. I was the heavy underdog, people thought I was going to get smashed to pieces, and he was the unified champion for 11 years and at some point, he thought he was unbeatable. he quipped.
“But I went over to Germany and beat him. In this game, it’s not about how much better somebody is than the other person.
“A lot of it has to do with natural stuff, like age, and at 38 years old, you are on the decline – whether you want to admit it or not.
He insisted that having the best team of workers around doesn’t stop any career from nosediving.
“If you look at Cristiano Ronaldo, he’s 37 years old, he’s had the best doctors, the best physiotherapists – he’s lived like an egg in Mr Kipling’s cake.
“But even Ronaldo is on the slide now.
“So even someone who has looked after himself like that, it catches up to you – so, imagine a boxer who has been punched to pieces for the last 20 years!
“The age factor will not wait for anybody, no matter how you’ve lived.
“Whether you’ve never had a drink in your life, if you’ve never run on any hard surfaces, no matter who you are, age will get you eventually.”
The five time Ballon D’or winner will be hopeful of his inclusion when Portugal face Morocco in the quarter-finals on Saturday.
