Tyson’s €240m belter
Born 3 months early, weighing 1lb, he’s battled drink, drugs & depression on the road to boxing glory
COMEBACK king Tyson Fury proved he is one of life’s great winners as the boxer was crowned heavyweight world champion for the second time.
The Gypsy King took the WBC belt from Deontay Wilder in a knockout rematch – leaving the Bronze Bomber so dazed, bloodied and wobbly his corner threw in the towel in the seventh round.
After the win in Las Vegas early yesterday morning, Fury declared from the ring: “The king has returned!”
And as the showman then sang American Pie to the crowd, talk turned to him facing Anthony Joshua, who holds the other three big belts – the WBO, WBA and IBF – plus the IBO.
The unification bout is being touted as a €240million spectacular, with the winner going down as a sporting legend.
But the fact that Fury, 31, is a contender for that legacy is astonishing after the knockdowns he has had in life while fighting his way to the top. The 6ft 9in
Traveller has beaten drug and booze addiction, weight issues that saw him hit 27st and clinical depression that made him suicidal.
He also had to give up the belts Joshua now holds after first becoming a world champ and was pilloried over controversial comments.
But as Fury proved in his first clash with American Wilder – a draw in Los Angeles in December 2018 – he is impossible to keep down.
His fighting nature was clear from the start, born three months premature at just 1lb and given little chance of survival.
Dad John, from Tuam, Galway, who recalled his newborn son could lie full length on his hand, said: “When I put my hand on his small frame, I could feel the life in him. I said to the doctor, ‘He will make it’. He has defied the odds since day one. Maybe this is just who he is.” John and mum Amber named the new arrival Tyson after heavyweight champ “Iron” Mike Tyson in recognition of his incredible fighting spirit.
Raised in Styal, near Wilmslow, Cheshire, Fury left school at 11 to join John surfacing roads – and he was already boxing.
His dad was a heavyweight who won eight of his 13 licensed fights but earned most of his money in brutal bare-knuckle bouts.
He acted as his son’s trainer until he was jailed for gouging out the eye of another traveller in a fight.
As a young boxer, Fury rose through the amateur ranks and just missed out on a place at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
He turned pro at 20, notching up the memorable wins that earned him a shot at heavyweight world champion
Wladimir Klitschko in 2015. Defying the bookies and pundits, he beat the Ukrainian to claim the WBA, WBO, IBF, IBO and Ring Magazine titles.
But along with the glory, that stunning victory also brought a huge amount of pain. Instead of being embraced as the nation’s new sporting hero, many felt Fury was a bad role model.
He made derogatory comments about gay men, going on to defend his extreme views on homosexuality by referring to the Bible, which is, he says, the only book he reads.
A profoundly religious man, Fury has often talked of his belief that the apocalypse is close at hand, and he believes that homosexuality and abortion should, like paedophilia, be criminalised.
He said: “The Gypsy King and the heavyweight champion of the world will not be silenced. I’ll always speak my mind, like it or lump it, in Jesus’s name.”
Ill-judged comments about women were also condemned. Fury did, however,
I drove at the bridge at 190mph. I didn’t care, I wanted to die...
TYSON FURY ON HIS BLEAKEST MOMENT
later apologise and has since been praised for his openness about his fight with addiction and depression, having said he wants to “help and inspire others”. When a rematch with Klitschko fell through twice in 2016, Fury hit the drink and drugs, and was stripped of his IBF title. He was then suspended after admitting to using cocaine while battling his depression, and vacated his WBA and WBO belts.
For four months, the lineal champion was snorting cocaine, drinking 18 pints a day and getting “as fat as a pig”.
His lowest point came when he tried to commit suicide after he “lost the will to live”.
Climbing into the Ferrari F12 supercar his win against Klitschko had bought him, he intended to plough it into a bridge that crossed the motorway.
He recalled: “I got the car up to 190mph. I didn’t care what anybody was thinking. I didn’t care about hurting my family, friends, anybody. I just wanted to die. As I was heading towards that bridge, I then heard a voice say, ‘Don’t do this. Think about your family, your boys and girls growing up with no father, everybody saying their dad was a weak man, who left you and took the easy way out.’”
Instead of ending his life, Fury drove home to his loved ones and re-started it, seeing counsellors as he battled his clinical depression.
He also hit the gym and began to shed his excess weight as loyal wife Paris, 30, and their five kids supported him.
Fury said: “Before, I didn’t know what [depression] was and I was going in and out of it for a long time. But now I actually know what it is, I know how to handle it now more.
“I came out the other side very strong. I turned my life around.”
He has bared his heart on his struggle and discussed plans to do more for mental health causes when he eventually retires, becoming an ambassador for the illness. And on his newfound peace, he said: “There have always been two characters to Tyson Fury – there’s Tyson Fury, the man, and there’s the Gypsy King, the entertainer. It was two totally different people.
“You wouldn’t believe how different those two people are, it’s like another person sat there. It’s not me today, it’s an entertainer, it’s somebody who has never been affected by mental health... if that makes any sense at all.
“The Gypsy King has been very pissed off with Tyson Fury because the man has been affected by stuff that can bring everyone down. But the Gypsy King has never had any defaults. He’s done everything asked of him, he’s gone all around the world and boxed all the best champions, and he’s never, ever defaulted.
“When I’m in the ring doing my stuff and entertaining, the Gypsy King comes out and thrives. But while I’m at home doing day-to-day stuff and just a normal person, a husband, a father, then Tyson Fury, the man, is where I want to be.” At the weekend, Tyson Fury and the Gypsy King both had plenty to celebrate. After the fight at the MGM Grand Arena, previously undefeated Wilder, 34, was taken to hospital for checks while the new champ partied long into the night.
Fury arrived at the Hakkasan nightclub to wild applause.
Many revellers had travelled to support him. As former 1D star Liam Payne sang on stage, Fury danced with Paris, then took the mic to belt out songs including boxing anthem Sweet Caroline.
He was joined by his boxer brother, Love Island star Tommy, 20, and Towie’s Mark Wright, 33. But as they partied, eyes were already turning to that potential blockbuster bout with Joshua, 30.
Both fighters have spoken of their desire to unify the belts and as Fury’s feat in Las Vegas sinks in, who would bet against the one-time underdog bagging the belts and ruling the boxing world?