On Sunday 23 February, Tyson Fury became the heavyweight champion of the world for the second time in his career.
The British boxer has overcome addictions to alcohol and cocaine, immense weight gain, and depression before working his way back to the ring.
He has also invited criticism for public statements that were homophobic, sexist, and anti-Semitic.
Here is a look into his life and comeback journey.
Tyson Luke Fury was born three months prematurely on August 12, 1988, in a rough suburb of Manchester in England.
Fury (facing the camera), is pictured with one of his brothers next to their green wagon on the Cheshire countryside. Rex
Fury was born into an Anglo-Irish traveller family, from a 200-year line of bare-knuckle fighters, hence his nickname “Gypsy King.”
English travellers, also referred to as “gypsies,” live on the road in caravans and temporarily on campsites, Business Insider’s Alan Dawson reported.
Fury weighed just 1lb at birth, and doctors did not give him a high chance of survival. His mother, Amber, was pregnant 14 times, but only four children survived, according to The Daily Telegraph. Fury has three brothers.
His father, John Fury, named his son “Tyson” after the then-undefeated heavyweight world champion, Mike Tyson.
In an interview at their home in Manchester, John Fury speaks about how he named his son after Mike Tyson. BT Sports
Fury’s father told BT Sports that, despite warnings his premature son would not survive, he was confident Tyson would pull through.
“I remember looking at him and thinking, he’ll be 7ft tall, 20 stone, he’s going to be called after Mike Tyson, and he’ll be the heavyweight champion of the world,” he said.
Fury dropped out of school at the age of 10 to help his father and brothers at work, resurfacing roads, dealing cars, and collecting scrap.
Fury (center) pictured with his father (far left) and three brothers Hughie, Shane, and John. Rex
In the documentary “Road To Redemption”, his brother Shane said Tyson was a “very quiet and shy” as a boy. This quickly changed when as he got bigger.
“When he started boxing at 14 years old, he grew confident around that because he was so good,” Shane Fury said.
He joined a local amateur boxing club, proving very quickly that he had what he later called “naturally gifted talent.”
According to The Sunday Times Magazine, he beat his first-ever boxing opponent easily, because he ran away when he saw how big Fury was.
The first time Tyson put on a pair of gloves to challenge his dad, he broke his father’s ribs with one blow. He was just 14 years old, but already 6ft 5in.
John Fury speaks at a press conference in Bolton, England in 2015. Getty Images
John Fury was initially a bare-knuckle, unlicensed boxer himself, before going professional in the 1980s, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Source: Sunday Times Magazine
In 2008, Fury signed as a professional with promoter Mick Hennessy at the Crown Plaza in Nottingham. His father trained Fury up until 2011.
Fury with his father at the Crown Plaza in Nottingham after he was signed as a professional boxer in 2008. Getty Images
John Fury stopped that year after being jailed for gouging out a man’s eye in a brawl, according to the Manchester Evening News.
He was released in 2015 after serving four years of his 11-year sentence.
Tyson Fury’s professional debut came in 2008 when he fought Hungarian fighter Bela Gyongyosi and defeated him by Technical Knockout (TKO) in the first round.
Tyson Fury, aged 20, fights Bela Gyongyosi at the Nottingham Arena on June 12, 2008. Getty Images
Over the course of the next seven months, he defeated all of his six opponents by knockout, according to BoxRec.
In the same year, he married his girlfriend Paris, whom he met when he was 17, and she was 15.One year later, Fury won his first belt —the English heavyweight title — against John McDermott.
Tyson Fury celebrates his victory over John McDermott during the English Heavyweight Title in London. Getty Images
The fight was decided by a points decision, but the referee was heavily criticized and many thought Fury shouldn’t have won, according to The Guardian.
Source: BoxRec
Speaking about how he developed his fighting style when he was young, Fury said: “I was like a sponge soaking everything up. I didn’t want to be a big stiff European with my hands up above me face walking forward, I wanted to slip and slide and be a boxer like the American style.”
Tyson Fury’s fighting style is unique to English travellers. Photo by David Becker/Getty Images
“I wanted to have American-style with European conditioning. That’s what I eventually got,” he said in an interview for the “Road to Redemption” documentary.
Business Insider’s Alan Dawson also suggested that Fury’s fighting style is unique to English travellers.
“They typically do all they can to avoid taking a terrible amount of punishment and are not known for their concussive punching.
“Instead, they are technically adept and defensively brilliant. So brilliant, they have a habit of making opponents look foolish,” he wrote.
In one of his earlier fights, Fury accidentally landed an uppercut on his own face and became a meme because of it.
The uppercut, in a fight against Lee Swaby in London in 2009. YouTube/justfunnyenough12
By 2013, Fury had begun to attract notoriety for another reason — a series of offensive remarks about women, Jewish people, and the LGBTQ community.
Tyson Fury looks on during the NFL game between Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams at Wembley Stadium on October 27, 2019, in London, England. Steve Flynn-USA TODAY Sports
Before his first fight in Madison Square Garden in 2013, Fury told a reporter that he would “hang” his own sister if she was promiscuous, according to The Guardian.
In his 2019 autobiography, “Behind the Mask: My Autobiography”, Fury blames his controversial outbursts on his mental health and the racism directed at the travelling community.
He wrote: “I went into the paid ranks off the back of an amateur career during which I was aware of racism against travellers. This made me an outsider and so I felt that for me to get the attention I needed to be an attraction in the sport, I had to play the outlaw.
“I felt I had to act out a role to seek publicity and to do that I had to be controversial and shock people with how I talked. To some degree, it worked. But playing the role got to the point where I didn’t know what was real and what was the act.”
Source: The Guardian
In 2014, Fury beat Dereck Chisora to win three minor titles. But he was more focused on another fight. At the press conference after he said: “Wladimir Klitschko, I’m coming for you baby. I’m coming.”
Tyson Fury beat Dereck Chisora in the eliminator for the WBO World Heavyweight Championship in London. Getty Images
At the time, Klitschko was the WBA, IBF, and WBO heavyweight world champion.
Klitschko was unbeaten in 22 fights over 11 years and was making his 19th consecutive world title defense, The Independent reported.
In July 2015, Fury’s prediction came true — it was confirmed that he would fight Klitschko in a showdown that would define his career.
Wladimir Klitschko and Tyson Fury pictured before their much-anticipated fight in Düsseldorf, Germany. Getty Images
Outside the ring, Fury was known for his attention-grabbing antics. At a press conference before the Klitschko fight, the “Gypsy King” arrived in a flashy Lamborghini, wearing a Batman costume.
Fury arriving at a pre-fight press conference in London in September 2015. iFL TV
Fury ran around the room to cheers from his family and journalists before insulting his opponent.
“It’s a very personal mission for me to rid boxing of a boring person like you. I’ve fallen asleep listening to you. You have as much charisma as my underpants – zero, none!” he said.
Klitschko said it was the most entertaining press conference of his 19-year career, according to ESPN.
He courted controversy again while anticipation for the Klitschko fight was building.
Tyson Fury reacts during a press conference for his fight against Wladimir Klitschko at Esprit-Arena on July 21, 2015 in Duesseldorf, Germany. Getty Images
In an interview ahead of his fight with Klitschko, Fury likened homosexuality to pedophilia and said that “a woman’s best place is in the kitchen and on her back”, The Independent reported.
In the biggest showdown of his career, Fury beat Klitschko in front of 55,000 people in the Esprit Arena in Düsseldorf, Germany. This came as a shock to many since Klitschko was the clear favorite going into the fight.
Tyson Fury beat Wladimir Klitschko on November 28, 2015, at the Esprit Arena in Düsseldorf, Germany. Getty Images
Klitschko’s perfected jab-and-grab technique was not enough to secure his victory.
Fury had achieved what nobody had done in more than 10 years, according to Business Insider’s Alan Dawson.
The English boxer celebrated his win by singing a version of Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing” to his wife Paris, according to The Independent.
But after winning, Fury went on a three-year downward spiral. He turned to drink, drugs, and later said he contemplated killing himself by driving his Ferrari into a bridge.
Fury, seen in front of an Irish pub, turned to drink after his iconic Klitschko fight. Getty Images
“When I beat him [Klitschko], I didn’t have anything more to prove,” Fury said in an interview on the popular MMA Show podcast.
“I hit the drink, heavily, on a daily basis. I hit the drugs. I was out all night partying with women of the night and not coming home.
“I didn’t care about boxing, about living, I just wanted to die. I was going to have a good time doing it while I was doing it”, he added.
Fury was diagnosed with bipolar and obsessive-compulsive disorder in 2016, according to the BBC
As a result, the boxer lost his figure, ballooning to a weight of 400 pounds.
A before-and-after image shows Fury’s weight gain. Instagram / Tyson Fury
“There’s 500 calories in a pint of beer. And I’d have 18 of those. Followed by whiskey, vodka. Then I’d stop off on the way home and have pizza, kebabs. I was 400-pounds, a drug addict, alcoholic, cocaine was the usual one. Cocaine and alcohol. Crazy drug and alcohol mix.
“I look back on it now and I wouldn’t change it. I wouldn’t change a thing. I needed to be tested to find out what kind of character I was,” he was quoted as saying by Business Insider.
As a result, several sanctioning bodies stripped Fury of his titles, The Independent reported.
After Fury was nominated for the 2015 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award, thousands of people signed a petition to have him removed from the list and because of his homophobic and sexist statements.
Protests outside an awards ceremony in Belfast, Northern Ireland after Fury was nominated as 2015 BBC Sports Personality of the Year. Getty Images
Fury was booed when he arrived, and eventually placed fourth.
Asked about his remarks in a live on-stage interview at the event, Fury said: “I’ve said a lot of stuff in the past and none of it with intentions to hurt anybody.
“It’s all very tongue in cheek, it’s all fun and games to me. I’m not a very serious kind of person — it’s all very happy-go-lucky with Tyson Fury.”
Source: BBC
However, the apology did not draw a line under controversy around Fury’s statements.
Tyson Fury arrives at the MGM Grand on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020, in Las Vegas. Associated Press
Fury made anti-Semitic comments in a video interview with SportsView in 2016, the year after the Sports Personality of the Year statement where he said he had not meant to hurt anybody.
In that, he said: “Everyone just do what you can, listen to the government, follow everybody like sheep, be brainwashed by all the Zionist, Jewish people who own all the banks, all the papers, all the TV stations. Be brainwashed by them all.”
A few days after the interview, Fury apologized — so far his only direct apology for the issues over which he was criticized.
In a statement, he said: “”I apologise to anyone who may have taken offence at any of my comments.
“I said some things, which may have hurt some people, which as a Christian man is not something I would ever want to do.”
Source: The Guardian
In 2018, Fury staged a remarkable turnaround, getting clean and stepping back into the ring. He lost 112 pounds, quit cocaine, and signed a $103 million, five-fight television deal with ESPN. He also won two comeback fights.
During his road to recovery, Fury turned to psychological help. Getty Images
On Halloween 2017, he sat in his bedroom and cried. “I thought to myself, what has my life come to? I’ve gone from being heavyweight champion of the world to being a fat mess.
“I’ve just got to change. The next day I got my sweatsuit on and started running, and never looked back.”
Seeking recovery, the boxer got professional help. “And after that, I got onto my knees and I begged to God for help. So I have lots of different people to thank. I didn’t do this on my own, this was never an alone thing”, he said in an interview reported by The Independent.
Source: Sunday Times Magazine
Fury also became a mental health ambassador. He has been praised for speaking openly about his depression and mental health issues.
Tyson Fury speaks to media at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas in 2019. Photo by AP Photo/John Locher
“I ain’t just getting into that ring to make myself or my family proud. I’m going in there because people need me. I suffered for years from depression and anxiety and I didn’t understand what it was, because I had never been educated about it.
“And if I was suffering then there are people going through the same things as me. I want to help change that.” he was quoted as saying by The Independent.
Fury has been dubbed “The People’s Champion” because of his openness about mental health, according to The Daily Telegraph.
Fury attributed a lot of his mental health recovery to Paris, who was there during his darkest moments. When he’s not traveling for work, Fury is now a “full-time, hands-on dad” to his five children.
Fury has a family of five children with his wife Paris, whom he met when he was a teenager. Instagram/gypsyking101
Speaking to The Sunday Times Magazine, Fury said: “I do the night feeds, change the nappies, get them up and fed and washed and dressed and ready for school every day.”
Controversial statements from his past continued to dog him. In 2018, Fury shut down an interview after a journalist confronted him with what he’d said.
Tyson Fury refuses to comment and walks out of an ITV interview on Apil 12, 2018. ITV News
“I’m a boxer, I’m not interested in politics or anything else. Boxing only, thank you,” he said.
Source: Pink News
It didn’t stop the fights. In December 2019, Fury went 12 rounds with the undefeated WBC world heavyweight champion, Deontay Wilder. The fight ended in a controversial draw and a rematch was organized.
Wilder and Fury fought a 12-round split decision draw at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on September 2019. Getty Images
In the crowd’s eyes, Fury had been robbed, according to Sunday Times Magazine. It was “a complete injustice”, he later said. “Disgraceful.”
Fury’s estimated net worth is around $30 million. He has a collection of luxury cars, including a personalized Rolls-Royce Phantom worth around $464,000 and a Ferrari California.
Fury poses with his Rolls-Royce Phantom ahead of his weigh-in at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas in 2019. Getty Images
Fury especially loves Ferraris. He owns a GTC4 Lusso, a Portofino, and a GTC supercar worth around $387,000, according to the Daily Mirror.
Source: Celebrity Net Worth, Daily Mirror
In 2019, Fury published his autobiography “Behind the Mask”, in which he partially addressed his controversial public persona. Fury wrote that he “regrets” how “he came across” at times.
Tyson Fury poses with his book during the “Behind The Mask” book signing at Waterstones Leadenhall on November 13, 2019, in London, England. Getty Images
“I confess I didn’t react as I should have done and I regret how I came across at times,” he says in his ‘Behind The Mask’ autobiography. “I was angry and felt under-appreciated.”
Source: BBC
On February 23, Fury faced Wilder again in one the most anticipated rematches in its history. Known for his theatrical entrances, Fury came into the Arena in Las Vegas on a golden throne, wearing a crown.
Tyson Fury enters the rematch with Deontay Wilder in the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Photo by AP Photo / Isaac Brekken
Before the rematch, Fury weighed in at 273 pounds, the third-heaviest weight of his professional career, according to ESPN.
According to Business Insider’s Alan Dawson, the boxer said he was preparing for the match by masturbating seven times a day and dipping his fists in gasoline.
In an “aggressive masterclass” performance that lasted seven rounds, Fury finished Wilder and won his second heavyweight championship. The “Gypsy King” remains undefeated.
The “Gypsy King” wins his second heavyweight world championship in Las Vegas. AP Photo/Isaac Brekken
As Business Insider’s Alan Dawson wrote: “The Gypsy King rules again.”
Source: Business Insider
Since his historic win, critics have called on Fury to offer a formal apology for the past remarks that he has made — a step he has been reluctant to take.
Tyson Fury celebrates his win by TKO in the seventh round against Deontay Wilder on February 22, 2020, at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo by AP Photo/Isaac Brekken
In an opinion piece for the Independent, journalist Chris Stevenson wrote: “if Fury is to live up to his role model status, and given he now has one of the biggest platforms in global sport, he must speak out against his own homophobic and misogynistic comments from the past.”
