TEAM TYSON
Reality stars, bare-knuckle boxers and an ex-drug baron
IT wIll be the clash of the heavyweight titans when Tyson Fury comes face to face with Oleksandr Usyk this weekend.
For the first time in 25 years, one man will be crowned the undisputed world heavyweight champion, a title last held by Lennox Lewis in 1999.
Neither will be pulling any punches as millions tune in to watch Saturday’s fight in Saudi Arabia.
But Usyk, 37, might want to remember when you take on one Fury, you take on them all. And they’re not exactly the shy and retiring type…
The wIFe: PARIS FURY
Paris became a star in her own right as a supermum and 35-year-old Tyson’s rock in their hit Netflix reality show At Home With The Furys.
But her early life was a far cry from the lavish lifestyle she now enjoys in Morecambe, Lancs.
Growing up in caravans in Yorkshire, Paris, 34, was living a traditional traveller lifestyle when she met Tyson, then 17, when she was 15.
They tied the knot in 2008 when she was 18 and, as practising Catholics, they had been saving themselves for their wedding night.
Once wed, the couple wasted no more time as they set about creating their brood of seven.
Despite her marriage to Tyson being rock solid, Paris has revealed that there was a period when she considered leaving him in 2015 as life became difficult.
“Every day he was talking about his misery and his problems,” she said.
“He was drinking heavily and he was taking drugs, which I didn’t know about at the time. And he was obese. It was a hard time to deal with him.”
I took her out once and I was being stopped for autographs. She couldn’t understand it Tyson Fury On his mum’s incOmprehensiOn Of his fame
The MUM: AMBeR FURY
Tyson’s 64-year-old mum has not been ringside for any of his bouts and needs help understanding the fuss around her undefeated champion son.
“She has never been to one of my fights, amateur or pro,” Tyson once confessed in an interview. “My mam doesn’t care if I’m world champion, as long as I’m healthy and happy.
“You could give my mother a table full of £50 notes and diamonds and it wouldn’t change who she is, ever.
“To be honest, my mum doesn’t fully understand what I have achieved as a boxer. I took her out shopping once after the [Deontay] Wilder fight and I was being stopped for photographs and she couldn’t understand it.”
Amber had three sons and one daughter with Tyson’s dad, John, before they split up.
The DAD: JOhN FURY
The former bare-knuckle fighter sparked a shameful brawl during a media event on Tuesday, leaving with a bloody face after headbutting Usyk’s friend Stanislav Stepchuk.
Irish-born John, 59, comes from a long line of bare-knuckle boxers, although his professional record of four defeats from 13 fights is a far cry from his son’s glittering ring career.
The dad of seven was jailed in 2011 for gouging a man’s eye out in a brawl.
Discussing his victim following his early release from prison, John declared: “He’s lost an eye, and I have lost five years of my life.”
HALF-BROTHER: TOMMY FURY
The 25-year-old found fame as a Love Island star in 2019, a diversion from his budding boxing career. It was in the villa that he met his now -fiancee, Molly-Mae Hague, 24, with whom he has a daughter, Bambi.
Big brother Tyson initially opposed his sibling’s reality career, saying: “A lot of people told Tommy, ‘Don’t go on Love Island. You’ll ruin your career’. I was one of them.
But he admitted: “It turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to him.” Tommy’s most famous fights ended in victories over YouTube stars Jake Paul and KSI.
THE UNCLE: PETER FURY
If you think dad John has a murky past, that’s nothing compared to Uncle Peter’s run-ins with the law.
Described by John as the “smart one” of his brothers, in his 20s Peter was importing amphetamine from Belgium and selling it around the North. But his crimes caught up with him and he was jailed in 1995 for 10 years.
In 2008, he was sentenced to two years for money laundering.
Four years later, a court ordered him to pay back the assets he had hidden from it, estimated at £1million.
The convicted drug baron, 56, went on to train nephew Tyson while John was in prison and is credited
with masterminding his 2015 world title triumph over Wladimir Klitschko.
Things turned sour when Tyson opted to ditch Peter as his trainer and the pair keep their distance.
The perma-tanned trainer has had homes on the French Riviera and loves driving Ferraris.
THE BROTHERS FURY
Tommy’s not the only sibling of note. Self-proclaimed “big bad Shane” Fury, 30, dabbled in boxing as an amateur before working as a landscape gardener and an airport car-parking assistant.
But he is now a key member of his sibling’s entourage.
Roman Fury, Tyson’s other half-brother, took up boxing during lockdown to lose weight after ballooning to 19st.
The 27-year-old turned pro in 2022. He has won his first four fights.
Finally Hugh Fury, 29, is the lesser-spotted sibling and the only one who doesn’t like a sparring session himself, although he’s often spotted ringside for Tyson’s fights.
He’s lost an eye, and I’ve lost five years of my life John Fury on man he was jailed for gouging