Law 47: Do not Go Past the Mark You Aimed for; in Victory, Learn When to Stop

Saturday, 11th April ‘26: the British heavyweight boxer, 37-year-old Tyson Fury came out of retirement a *inhales* fifth time to fight *checks notes* Arslanbek Makhmudov, a 36-year-old Canadian-based Russian. The British former champ Fury clinched the win with a unanimous decision, and then called out fellow Brit Anthony Joshua. 

 

Joshua himself is now 36, so both fighters are on the cusp of the 38-Year-Old Rule. This, according to esteemed voice of authority on boxing Sharpbetting (?) is the age generally regarded to be the most appropriate age for retirement. Physical and mental health, brain injuries, neurological injuries and even death are all things that a fighter risks more as he progresses through his 30s. The general consensus is, don’t risk it. 

What might author Robert Greene say about such things? He wrote The 48 Laws of Power, a book that’s been found hugely valuable to many, including rappers and sports stars, but is highly regarded in the business world too. 

Law 47 is ‘Do not go past the mark you aimed for: in victory, learn when to stop.’ 

Tyson Fury has a net worth of an estimated £120 million. Anthony Joshua: £150 million. Granted, there are many people richer than them put together. There are 156 billionaires in the UK today, owning a million pounds a THOUSAND times over, each. But still, they’re presumably sat behind a desk, or on a yacht, for most of their day. They aren’t doing a sport when they’re trying to deflect repeated blows to the skull. 

Both of these boxers have held titles. Both have had long-enough careers. Should they be fighting? I doubt Robert Greene would think so. 

“The moment of victory is often the moment of greatest peril,” Greene explains. “In the heat of victory, arrogance and overconfidence can push you past the goal you had aimed for, and by going too far, you make more enemies than you defeat. Do not allow success to go to your head. There is no substitute for strategy and careful planning. Set a goal, and when you reach it, stop.” 

I expect Greene has no particular knowledge of boxing, beyond interviewing Freddie Roach, Manny Pacquiao’s coach, and being interviewed himself by MMA magazine Bloody Elbow. But he does understand conflict. The guy’s got a BA in Classical Studies. He’s well-versed in world history which, if you remember school, is punctuated with wars and with royalty meeting all sorts of awful demises. Among Greene’s bibliography is The 33 Strategies of War, so I expect he’s got a good theoretical grasp of fighting, if nothing more. 

I’m sure Greene would agree with me that the time for Fury and Joshua to fight has now passed. There’s younger blood coming through. Both aforementioned boxers both had their fair share of victories, and have reached enough goals. The enemies they make from now on won’t be other boxers – it will be their own health.

Excess Month Review

It’s May today, hence this absurd Excess project comes to a close. What have I done since Sunday night? 

A while back, I got a couple of Chivas Regal blending kits as presents, containing 5 single malt blends in each: Smoky, Citrus, Creamy, Fruity and Floral, plus a bottle of standard Chivas Regal blend. These are made for blending, but I sipped through them individually to try each. They also came with a beaker, stirrer and an empty bottle for the blend. With the next kit I might try blending to experiment. I also polished off the last third of a bottle of Jura Journey, a great single malt. Not in one night, I might add.

Rewatched Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, about a journalist reporting on a motorbike race while slamming a suitcase full of drugs into his body. Rewatched The Crow, seeing as I met David Patrick Kelly the other day. Rewatched 8 Mile for a similar reason, although substitute the actor for Mekhi Phifer. Rewatched David Cronenberg’s Videodrome, about a TV executive becoming obsessed with a Malaysian snuff TV broadcast that eventually gives him insane hallucinations. It was a DVD transfer from a recording I made off the BBC probably just before the turn of the century, when Mark Cousins was presenting Moviedrome, a series of cult films. Brilliantly weird film, great lead actor in James Woods, shame he’s turned into a MAGA nutter in recent years. Rewatched Terminator 2: Judgement Day, this time with the Blu-Ray commentary and in-screen accompanying storyboard. Fascinating. Not seen it in years, certainly not since meeting the cast in July ‘24. Rewatched Scanners, about an underground society of mind readers whose telekinetic abilities cause their victims’ heads to explode. Crazy shit again from David Cronenberg. I recently watched his early works which feature similar mind reading themes, in particular Stereo. 

Went out for an Indian in Mossley.

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There’s more to be uploaded, including a small psychopharmacological experiment. I read one of the books I pulled out, review to be uploaded soon. 

But how was this month’s actual excess experiment? How did it go? Honestly, the steady flow of alcohol didn’t do my mental health any good. Shock. It was difficult to get out and see the city and do things out there, as gathering people together is insanely hard unless it’s a Saturday night. Even then, with conventions and televised boxing matches, it can be hard to find the time myself. But generally, nobody has money, people’s interests are different, people travel, so a lot of what I did was to stay home, hammer through that alcohol and watch those films. Looking back at the original plans, I’m not sure I’ve seen many opportunities to do things other than the horror convention. There are 4 blog posts on that in the last month. Everything else has been hand weights, movies, the odd night out and hard spirits. I enjoyed most of it. 3 more months to achieve the rest.

Made some space in the alcohol cupboard this month.

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— Matt Tuckey 🇬🇧 (@matttuckey.bsky.social) 1 May 2026 at 08:19

It’s only now that I realise, after doing this for a month, that this Excess project wasn’t even part of the plans I had for this year. Wow. I’d just assumed it was because I had no room in my drinks cupboard. 

Well… I have now.