Tyson Luke Fury stunned the boxing world last month when he handed Wladimir Klitschko his first defeat in 11 years to claim the world heavyweight title.
The unanimous points decision completed an incredible rise through the ranks for Fury, who snatched the champion’s four titles and became the first Briton to hold a world heavyweight crown since 2011.
Here are five facts about the new boxing king.
- Boxing runs in his family
In case you still doubt Fury’s credentials, bear in mind that his father, Gypsy John, was a bare-knuckle fighter who moved into professional boxing in the 1980s.
Gypsy recently served a five-year sentence in prison for a fight that ended with a man losing an eye.
But anyone insulting Fury’s father would touch a severely raw nerve with the son who worships him.
“My dad did what he had to do. It’s not been easy.”
Fury is trained by his uncle, Peter, and is also a distant relative of Bartley Gorman, a champion bare-knuckle boxer known as the King of the Gypsies.
- Named after Mike Tyson
Fury was born in 1988, when “Iron Mike” was in the prime of his career before the ear-biting controversy and his rape conviction in 1992.
Of his namesake, Fury says: “Doing controversial things in life is what you’ll be remembered for, not for how kind or how nice you were. People think of Mike Tyson and they don’t think ‘youngest heavyweight world champion ever’, they think of him raping someone, biting someone’s ear off, being the baddest man on the planet.”
- His singing is equally impressive as his boxing
Following his triumph over the Ukrainian, the 2.06m Fury celebrated by belting out the Aerosmith classic ‘I Don’t Want To Miss a Thing’ in front of the 50,000 strong crowd, dedicating the song to his wife, Paris, who is pregnant with their third child.
Bursting into songs is something of a trademark for Fury. He performed ‘The Wind Beneath my Wings’ at a pre-fight press conference and always performs in the ring following a victory.
- A passionate Manchester United fan
He might be the boxing champion of the world, but still loves the game of football and supports English giants, Manchester United.
Fury follows the Red Devils right from his early years and picks Eric Cantona as his childhood hero.
“I became a United fan at a very young age. Most of my family were Manchester City fans so I decided to follow United – just to be the outcast! The Fury household is always an interesting place to be on derby day, put it that way,” he said.
- Posses some controversial views
Fury may have lost a fair few supporters after launching into astonishing rants about homosexuality, paedophilia and devil worship in an interview with the Mail on Sunday earlier this year.
“There are only three things that need to be accomplished before the devil comes home,” he said.
“One of them is homosexuality being legal in countries, one of them is abortion and the other is paedophilia. Who would have thought in the 50s and 60s that those first two would be legalised?
“When I say paedophiles could be made legal, it sounds crazy. But if I had said to you about the first two being made legal in the 50s, I would have been looked upon as a crazy man.”
