Tyson Fury

Tyson Fury

Fury in 2008
Statistics
Real name Tyson Luke Fury
Rated at Heavyweight
Height 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)[1]
Reach 85 in (216 cm)
Born (1988-08-12) 12 August 1988
Wythenshawe,
Manchester, England
Stance Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights 25
Wins 25
Wins by KO 18
Losses 0

Tyson Luke Fury[2] (born 12 August 1988) is a professional boxer who fights at heavyweight. In November 2015, he defeated Wladimir Klitschko to become the lineal, WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring magazine unified heavyweight champion. Fury was subsequently stripped of the IBF title for choosing not to fight their mandatory challenger, Vyacheslav Glazkov, upon agreeing to a rematch with Wladimir Klitschko.

Having initially been denied the opportunity to fight for Ireland at the Olympic Games, he was permitted to represent both Great Britain and Ireland after tracing his family lineage to relatives in Belfast and Galway.[3][4] Fury has represented both England and Ireland as an amateur, winning the ABA championship in 2008 before turning professional later that year. Currently undefeated, he is a two-time former British and English champion, a former European, Commonwealth and Irish heavyweight champion, as well as a former WBO Inter-Continental and WBO International heavyweight champion.

After winning the world titles he was nominated for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2015 shortlist, but attracted significant criticism relating to statements he had made which were considered sexist and homophobic.

Background

Born and raised in Wythenshawe, Manchester, England, Fury was born into a family of Irish Traveller heritage.[5] His paternal grandfather was from Tuam, County Galway, which is also the birthplace of his father John Fury.[6] The Furys of Galway are ultimately of Gaelic origin, deriving their present name from Ó Fiodhabhra.[7] His maternal grandmother is from County Tipperary and his mother was born in Belfast.[8][9] His family has a long history in boxing;[10] his father competed in the 1980s as "Gypsy" John Fury,[11] initially as a bare-knuckle fighter and unlicensed boxer, and then as a professional boxer.[12] He is a cousin of Irish former WBO World middleweight champion Andy Lee[9] and heavyweight Hughie Fury.[13] He is also a distant relative of "self-styled King of the Gypsies"[14] Bartley Gorman.[15] His father named him "Tyson" after then-world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.[10]

Amateur career

As an amateur, Fury represented both Ireland and England. Fury represented Ireland three times at international level. He initially fought out of the Holy Family Boxing Club in Belfast, Northern Ireland and later switched to the Smithboro Club in County Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland.[16] In a double international duel against an experienced Polish team in 2007, the Irish team lost 12–6 overall; Fury, however, was victorious in both his fights in Rzeszów and Białystok.[17] In another Irish match against the US, Fury won his bout by knock-out.[18]

He was forced to withdraw from the Irish national championships after officials from the Holy Trinity Boxing Club in West Belfast, the club of the then Irish amateur heavyweight champion, submitted a protest regarding his eligibility.[18][19] He won a bronze medal at the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships in 2006.[1]

In England, whilst representing Jimmy Egan's Boxing Academy, he participated in the senior national championships in 2006 but was beaten by David Price 22–8.[20]

In May 2007, he won the EU Junior Championship representing England, and later lost to Maxim Babanin in the final of the European Junior Championships. As a junior, he was ranked number three in the World behind the Russians Maxim Babanin and Andrey Volkov, but lost out to David Price for a place at the Olympic Games in Beijing representing the United Kingdom.

Price was chosen for the 2008 Olympic team ahead of Fury due to Olympic rules restricting each country to one boxer per weight division. Fury also unsuccessfully tried to qualify for Ireland, and attributed his failure to qualify for the Olympics as his reason for turning professional, instead of waiting for a chance that might not have come in 2012.[19]

In the absence of Price (who won Olympic Bronze in Beijing) he became national champion (ABA) in 2008.[10]

Professional career

Fury vs. Chisora, Johnson, and Cunningham

On 23 July 2011 Fury faced undefeated heavyweight Dereck Chisora and defeated him via unanimous decision.

On 1 December 2012, Fury fought American world title contender Kevin Johnson (W28-L2-D1). Fury won via unanimous decision.

On 20 April 2013, Fury fought the highly ranked American former world Cruiserweight champion, Steve Cunningham (W25-L5) in his United States debut at Madison Square Garden. The bout was an IBF Title Eliminator to determine the Number 2 World Ranking, with the winner then needing to fight unbeaten Bulgarian heavyweight Kubrat Pulev for the mandatory position for a tilt at the long reigning Ukrainian world champion Wladimir Klitschko. Cunningham came into the fight on the rebound from a controversial split decision loss to Tomasz Adamek of Poland. Fury fought wildly in the first two rounds, and was floored by Cunningham in the 2nd round. However, Fury rebounded and knocked Cunningham out for the first time in his career with a right hand in the seventh round.[21]

This win gave the 24-year-old Fury a world ranking of 7 according to Boxrec,[1] a number 2 ranking according to the International Boxing Federation, 6th with the World Boxing Council, and 5th with the World Boxing Organization.[22]

Haye negotiations and fallout

Fury was due to fight David Haye[23] on 28 September 2013. However, Haye pulled out of the fight on 21 September after sustaining a cut, which required six stitches, above the eye during training.[24] The fight was originally postponed to 8 February 2014, however, Haye was forced to pull out of the fight with a career-threatening shoulder injury, and hinted at his retirement.[25]

Fury vs. Chisora II and Hammer

Fury was due to fight rival and heavyweight contender Dereck Chisora for the second time on 26 July 2014. However, on 21 July, Chisora was forced to pull out after sustaining a fractured hand in training. Belarusian Alexander Ustinov was lined up as Chisora's replacement in the bout scheduled to take place at the Manchester Arena,[26] Fury pulled out of the fight after his uncle and former trainer Hughie Fury was taken seriously ill.[27] However, Fury and Chisora rescheduled the rematch for 29 November 2014; Fury won the rematch.

Fury then went on to face Christian Hammer on 28 February 2015, and also won the fight when the fight came to a halt in the 8th round via RTD.[28]

Title showdown with Wladimir Klitschko

In July 2015, it was confirmed that Fury would take part in a World Heavyweight title showdown with Wladimir Klitschko for WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring Heavyweight titles. Although the fight was meant to take place on 24 October 2015, Klitschko sustained a calf injury and so it was put back to 28 November 2015. For this match, he trained together with the highest ranked heavyweight kickboxers in GLORY, Rico Verhoeven and Benjamin Adegbuyi.[29]

The fight took place in Düsseldorf, Germany,[30] with Fury winning after twelve rounds by a unanimous points decision, with scores of 116–111, 115–112, 115–112.[31] On 8 December 2015, the IBF stripped Fury of his title, as the contract for the fight against Klitschko included a rematch clause and therefore precluded him from facing the IBF's mandatory challenger Vyacheslav Glazkov. He had held the IBF belt for only 10 days.[32]

Personal life

Fury and his wife Paris married in 2009.[33]

He is a supporter of Premier League football club Manchester United.[34] He is a practicing Catholic.[35][36]

In September 2015 Fury expressed a desire to run as an independent candidate to be the UK Member of Parliament for Morecambe and Lunesdale, opining that the government were too focused on immigrants and not enough on homeless people and those with drug and alcohol problems. He also suggested that Britain should leave the European Union.[37]

Controversies

Controversial comments

In 2013, Fury told an interviewer before his first fight at Madison Square Garden that he would "hang" his own sister if she was promiscuous. That same year he was fined £3,000 for calling fellow boxers David Price and Tony Bellew "gay lovers".[38] After the 2015 controversy emerged, Bellew said that he was not upset by Fury and considered it wrong that people were pulling him down.[39]

Shortly before winning the world titles in November 2015, Fury publicly argued that performance-enhancing drugs (which he denied taking) should be permitted in boxing and other sports. He said: "Why don't they just make drugs totally legal in sports, then everybody would be taking drugs and then it would be fully fair then, wouldn't it? ... It's none of my concern really, but if the governing bodies want to do that then I think it would be a bit fairer because you've got all them people taking drugs and when you face a man who is not taking drugs it becomes unfair, doesn't it?"[40]

After the world championship fight, he stated that he had been cautioned against potential cheating tactics by the Klitschko camp, of which he provided no evidence, and he would not even drink water in the locker room post-fight because of fears that he would be drugged.[41]

The British Boxing Board of Control met on 9 December and agreed to summon Fury to explain his recent comments.[42]

2015 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award nomination

After winning the world title he was named as a finalist of the 2015 BBC Sports Personality of the Year (SPOTY). His nomination ignited a lingering controversy which began even before the Klitschko fight, when Fury said: "There are only three things that need to be accomplished before the Devil comes home. One of them is homosexuality being legal in countries, one of them is abortion and the other is paedophilia. So who would have thought in the 50s and early 60s that those first two would be legalised. … For me, people can say 'oh, you're against abortions and you're against paedophilia, you're against homosexuality, you're against whatever' but my faith and my culture is all based on the Bible. The Bible was written a long time ago, wasn't it, from the beginning of time until now so if I follow that and that tells me it's wrong, then it's wrong for me."[43][44] Later, over 138,000 people signed an online Change.org petition saying that what they saw as his homophobic and sexist views made him an unsuitable recipient for the award.[45] Asked directly if he was homophobic, Fury said: "No. Definitely not. I wouldn't be a very good Christian if I hated anybody. If Jesus loves the world, I love the world."[46]

Fury also stated that Olympic and world champion heptathlete, Jessica Ennis-Hill, a fellow contender for the BBC award, "slaps up good" and that "a woman's best place is in the kitchen and on her back – that's my personal belief."[47] Fury responded to the controversy by denying he was homophobic and telling iFL TV that his critics could "suck my balls" - and labelled those who signed the petition as "50,000 wankers".[48]

On 9 December, BBC bosses were fighting a frantic battle to save the SPOTY awards, after a leading contender, long jumper Greg Rutherford, threatened to pull out because of the controversy.[49] Despite his disgust at Fury, Rutherford later agreed to stay in the award show. In a separate development, the Sports Journalists' Association withdrew an invitation to Fury to attend the British Sports Awards in London.[50]

On 8 December 2015, the SNP's John Nicolson, a member of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, challenged the BBC over Fury's SPOTY nomination.[51] On 9 December, Greater Manchester Police confirmed that they were investigating an allegation of hate crime against Fury in relation to comments made about homosexuality on Victoria Derbyshire's BBC television programme.[52] The police soon reported that no hate crime, but only what they called a "hate incident", had occurred, so no charge would be laid.[53]

Fury was placed fourth in the BBC SPOTY competition and apologised at the ceremony for his offensive comments, saying: "If I've said anything in the past that's hurt anybody, I apologise. ... I've said a lot of stuff in the past and none of it with intentions to hurt anybody."[54]

Professional boxing record

25 fights, 25 Wins (18 knockouts), 0 losses[1]
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
26 N/A N/A Ukraine Wladimir Klitschko N/A – (12) 2016 Defending WBA (Super), WBO, IBO, The Ring and lineal heavyweight titles
25 Win 25–0 Ukraine Wladimir Klitschko UD 12 28 Nov 2015 Germany Esprit Arena, Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Won WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, The Ring and lineal heavyweight titles
24 Win 24–0 Romania Christian Hammer RTD 8 (12), 3:00 28 Feb 2015 United Kingdom The O2 Arena, London, England Retained WBO International heavyweight title
23 Win 23–0 United Kingdom Dereck Chisora RTD 10 (12), 3:00 29 Nov 2014 United Kingdom ExCeL London, London, England Won European, WBO International and vacant British heavyweight titles
22 Win 22–0 United States Joey Abell TKO 4 (10), 1:48 15 Feb 2014 United Kingdom Copper Box, London, England
21 Win 21–0 United States Steve Cunningham KO 7 (12), 2:55 20 Apr 2013 United States The Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US IBF heavyweight title eliminator
20 Win 20–0 United States Kevin Johnson UD 12 1 Dec 2012 United Kingdom Odyssey Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland WBC heavyweight title eliminator
19 Win 19–0 United States Vinny Maddalone TKO 5 (12), 1:35 7 Jul 2012 United Kingdom Hand Arena, Clevedon, England Won vacant WBO Inter-Continental heavyweight title
18 Win 18–0 United Kingdom Martin Rogan TKO 5 (12), 3:00 14 Apr 2012 United Kingdom Odyssey Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland Won vacant Irish heavyweight title
17 Win 17–0 Canada Neven Pajkic TKO 3 (12), 2:44 12 Nov 2011 United Kingdom EventCity, Manchester, England Retained Commonwealth heavyweight title
16 Win 16–0 United States Nicolai Firtha TKO 5 (12), 2:19 18 Sep 2011 United Kingdom King's Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland
15 Win 15–0 United Kingdom Dereck Chisora UD 12 23 Jul 2011 United Kingdom Wembley Arena, London, England Won British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles
14 Win 14–0 Brazil Marcelo Luiz Nascimento KO 5 (10), 2:48 19 Feb 2011 United Kingdom Wembley Arena, London, England
13 Win 13–0 United States Zack Page UD 8 19 Dec 2010 Canada Colisée Pepsi, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
12 Win 12–0 United States Rich Power PTS 8 10 Sep 2010 United Kingdom York Hall, London, England
11 Win 11–0 United Kingdom John McDermott TKO 9 (12), 1:08 25 Jun 2010 United Kingdom Brentwood Centre, Brentwood, England Won vacant English heavyweight title
British heavyweight title eliminator
10 Win 10–0 Germany Hans-Joerg Blasko TKO 1 (8), 2:14 5 Mar 2010 United Kingdom Leisure Centre, Huddersfield, England
9 Win 9–0 Czech Republic Tomas Mrazek PTS 6 26 Sep 2009 Republic of Ireland The O2, Dublin, Leinster, Ireland
8 Win 8–0 United Kingdom John McDermott PTS 10 11 Sep 2009 United Kingdom Brentwood Centre, Brentwood, England Won English heavyweight title
7 Win 7–0 Latvia Aleksandrs Selezens TKO 3 (6), 0:48 18 Jul 2009 United Kingdom York Hall, London, England
6 Win 6–0 United Kingdom Scott Belshaw TKO 2 (8), 0:52 23 May 2009 United Kingdom Colosseum, Watford, England
5 Win 5–0 United Kingdom Matthew Ellis KO 1 (6), 0:48 11 Apr 2009 United Kingdom York Hall, London, England
4 Win 4–0 United Kingdom Lee Swaby TKO 4 (6), 3:00 14 Mar 2009 United Kingdom Aston Events Centre, Birmingham, England
3 Win 3–0 Russia Daniil Peretyatko TKO 2 (6), 3:00 28 Feb 2009 United Kingdom Norfolk Showground, Norwich, England
2 Win 2–0 Germany Marcel Zeller TKO 3 (6), 2:50 17 Jan 2009 United Kingdom DW Stadium, Wigan, England
1 Win 1–0 Hungary Bela Gyongyosi TKO 1 (6), 2:14 6 Dec 2008 United Kingdom National Ice Centre, Nottingham, England Professional debut

Titles in boxing

Major World Titles:

Minor World Titles:

The Ring/Lineal Championship Titles:

Regional/International Titles:

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Tyson Fury – Boxer". Boxrec.com. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  2. ↑ Fury, Paris. "Tyson Fury's Passport". Paris Fury via Twitter. Paris Fury. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  3. ↑ "Boxer Fury finds Irish roots". BBC Sport. 13 September 2011. Archived from the original on 18 April 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  4. ↑ Balasundaram, Nemesha (30 July 2013). "Tyson Fury fulfils promise to 'Trafford's Frank Sinatra' for Haye walkout". The Irish Post. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  5. ↑ "Tyson Fury: Fists of fury". The Independent. 11 November 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  6. ↑ "Gypsy Empire". google.ie.
  7. ↑ "The Furey/Fury family name History". Clan Furey. 12 December 2015.
  8. ↑ "The fight and the fury". The Irish Times. 20 April 2013.
  9. 1 2 Tyson Fury added to Dunne card, RTÉ Sport, Thursday, 17 September 2009 17:17
  10. 1 2 3 Telegraph (6 December 2008). "Tyson Fury". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  11. ↑ "Tyson Fury fired up by the return of his father from prison". The Daily Telegraph (London). 24 January 2015.
  12. ↑ Ben Dirs. "Tyson Fury: I'm not interested in being a role model". BBC Sport.
  13. ↑ "Tyson Fury and cousin Hughie Fury poised to become the 'new Klitschkos'". The Daily Telegraph (London). 7 March 2013.
  14. ↑ The Independent, 30 November 2011
  15. ↑ Alan Hubbard (29 October 2011). "Tyson Fury: Reflections of a gypsy fighter". The Independent (London).
  16. ↑ "Tyson Fury looking for English and Irish title double". Inside Boxing. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  17. ↑ Bernard O'Neill. "Golden year for Irish boxing. He fought under Jimmy Egans Boxing, the club that made him to the standard he is.". Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  18. 1 2 David Kelly. "Tyson Fury- 'English' Tyson is causing a real fury in Dublin". Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  19. 1 2 Stuart Brennan (19 April 2010). "Fury-ous Tyson to hit back". men.
  20. ↑ Mark Vester. ""Tyson Fury- "I'd Smash David Price's Face in.". Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  21. ↑ "Tyson Fury wins U.S. debut". 20 April 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  22. ↑ "Boxing Rankings | WBC, WBA, WBO, IBF". Fightnews. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  23. ↑ "David Haye believes Tyson Fury's superior height and weight will count for nought in September 28 clash". The Daily Telegraph. London. 14 September 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  24. ↑ David Haye Postpones Tyson Fury Fight after Sustaining Cut www.bbc.co.uk
  25. ↑ Mike Costello (17 November 2013). "David Haye advised to retire after major shoulder surgery". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  26. ↑ "Tyson Fury to take on Alexander Ustinov after Dereck Chisora withdrawal", Sky Sports, 23 July 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2014
  27. ↑ "Tyson Fury pulls out of Alexander Ustinov fight after uncle taken ill", The Guardian, 26 July 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014
  28. ↑ "Result: Tyson Fury forces Christian Hammer to throw in the towel after eight rounds". Sports Mole.
  29. ↑ Ben Adegbuyi Talks About Training With Tyson Fury Ahead of GLORY 24. Fightsports.tv (9 October 2015). Retrieved on 2015-11-29.
  30. ↑ Klitschko vs Tyson Fury Fight Rescheduled 28 November 2015. Totalsportek.com (5 October 2015). Retrieved on 2015-11-28.
  31. ↑ Dirs, Ben (2015) "Tyson Fury beats Wladimir Klitschko to become world champion", BBC, 29 November 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015
  32. ↑ "Tyson Fury: World heavyweight champion stripped of IBF title". BBC News. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  33. ↑ Guy Docetoni. "Paris Fury, Tyson Fury's Wife: The Pictures you Need to See". Heavy.com.
  34. ↑ "Klitschko vs Fury: Manchester United, David Haye and more react to Tyson Fury's win". Sky Sports. 29 November 2015.
  35. ↑ "Controversial, colourful, - and Christian - new heavyweight world champion Fury - Belfast Newsletter". Newsletter.co.uk. 30 November 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  36. ↑ Gore, Will (25 November 2015). "Archive interview: Tyson Fury, the boxer who prays for his opponents". CatholicHerald.co.uk. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  37. ↑ "Boxer Tyson Fury's political fight to be Morecambe MP". BBC News. 30 September 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  38. ↑ "Tyson Fury: the boxer who picked a fight with the world". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  39. ↑ "Tony Bellew defends Tyson Fury comments despite 'gay lovers' slur". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  40. ↑ "Tyson Fury: Why don't they just make drugs totally legal in sports?". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  41. ↑ "New heavyweight champ Tyson Fury calls Wladimir Klitschko camp 'cheats,' says he feared being drugged". Yahoo Sports. 30 November 2015.
  42. ↑ "Tyson Fury to explain controversial comments to British Boxing Board". BBC News. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  43. ↑ "Tyson Fury under police investigation after hate crime accusation". The Daily Telegraph. 9 December 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  44. ↑ "BBC Spoty shortlist: petition to remove Tyson Fury reaches 75,000 signatures". The Guardian (London). 6 December 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  45. ↑ "Tyson Fury must remember he is a role model, says sports minister". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  46. ↑ "Tyson Fury denies he is a homophobe and says he is 'uniting the world'". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  47. ↑ "Tyson Fury hits back at critics after accusations of homophobia and sexism". The Independent (London). Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  48. ↑ "Tyson Fury goes on the offensive again, telling doubters: 'You are 50,000 w-----s ... suck my balls'". The Daily Telegraph (London). 7 December 2015.
  49. ↑ Adrian Rutherford. "Tyson Fury row BBC fight to save SPOTY as Olympic hero Greg threatens to quit awards over boxer's inclusion". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  50. ↑ "Greg Rutherford admits to pulling out of Spoty over Tyson Fury misgivings". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  51. ↑ "Enough is enough: SNP challenge to BBC over Tyson Fury's SPOTY nomination". Thenational.scot. 8 December 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  52. ↑ "Tyson Fury: Police investigate complaint of hate crime". BBC News. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  53. ↑ "Tyson Fury: Police rule out hate crime action". BBC News. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  54. ↑ "Tyson Fury apologies for comments that 'hurt anybody'". BBC Sports. Retrieved 21 December 2015.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tyson Fury.
Achievements
Preceded by
Wladimir Klitschko		 IBF Heavyweight Champion
28 November 2015 – 8 December 2015
Stripped 		Vacant
Title next held by
Charles Martin
IBO Heavyweight Champion
28 November 2015 – present 		Incumbent
The Ring Heavyweight Champion
28 November 2015 – present
WBA Heavyweight Super Champion
28 November 2015 – present
WBO Heavyweight Champion
28 November 2015 – present
Regional and International championships
Preceded by
Dereck Chisora		 British Heavyweight Champion
23 July 2011 – 8 February 2012
Vacated 		Vacant
Title next held by
David Price
Commonwealth Heavyweight Champion
23 July 2011 – 8 February 2012
Vacated
European Heavyweight Champion
29 November 2014 – 17 April 2015
Vacated 		Vacant
Title next held by
Erkan Teper
WBO International Heavyweight Champion
29 November 2014 – 28 November 2015
Won world title 		Vacant
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