Tyson Luke Fury was born on August 12, 1988, he was three months premature and weighed only one pound. But his dad John, had no hesitation in naming his son after the then-heavyweight king and self-proclaimed baddest man on the planet, Mike Tyson.
On Saturday, February 20, all 6ft 9in, 19 st 7lbs of Tyson Fury was crowned heavyweight champion of the world, for the second time, when he beat Deontay Wilder in the 7th round of the fight in Las Vegas
He had beaten the seemingly unconquerable Wladimir Klitschko in Dusseldorf, 1,547 days previously, but the gap has been a rollercoaster for Fury, his family and his adoring fans.
He put on weight rising to 28 stone, became addicted to cocaine and battled mental health problems that culminated in Fury nearly ending his own life while speeding down a motorway at 190 miles per hour.
His masterful performance on Saturday signalled the end of his recovery – he is back on top of the world again.
Fury felt he won the drawn first fight between him and Wilder back on December 1, 2018, despite being knocked down twice in the fight.
Fury has now ended the reigns of two of the longest standing world champions – Wilder had had 10 successive title defences and Klitschko 22.
Deontay Wilder, who held the highest knockout percentage (97%) in the history of the heavyweight division, looked weak in comparison to Fury’s genius. “He won every second of the six completed rounds,” boxing pundit Steve Bunce said when describing the fight in an interview with IFL TV.
Before the bout, Fury told 5 Live Boxing with Costello and Bunce: “The only way to beat a bully is to stand up to them.” Fury did that from the outset, using his three stone weight advantage and fast hand speed to do just that.
In the third round Fury landed a devastating combination that sent Wilder to the canvas. The second of Fury’s punches cut Wilder’s ear and put his equilibrium out for the rest of the fight.
From that point on, there was no way back for Wilder who was systematically broken down and beaten up by Fury until Wilder’s cornerman, Mark Breland, threw the towel in in the 7th round.
Breland, a former two-time welterweight world champion, has attracted a lot of criticism from Deontay Wilder for doing this. “I told my team to never, ever, no matter what it may look, to never throw the towel in with me,” he said to Yahoo sports.
It is now looking very unlikely that Breland will be in Wilder’s corner the next time he enters the ring.
Wilder has also looked to blame the outfit he chose to wear for his ring walk.
He donned a steel costume, fitted with LED lights around the eyes, that was in honour of Black History Month. In truth the outfit would not have looked out of place on a villain in the Marvel series.
“My uniform I wore was very heavy for me. I had no legs from the first round on,” Wilder told The Athletic. The stunning outfit weighed 18 kilos and Wilder believes put him on the backfoot from the start of the fight.
To many onlookers, Fury eclipsed the brilliance of his performance in Dusseldorf all those years ago and gave what, The Daily Telegraph’s Boxing and MMA correspondent, Gareth A Davies described as “One of the great performances by a British sportsman abroad ever,” when speaking to IFL TV.
Almost as soon as Fury’s arm was raised in victory, talk had turned to the possibility of a fight with fellow Brit, Anthony Joshua who holds the other versions of the world heavyweight championship.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn tweeted: “No need for a third let’s go straight to it in the summer.”
The thought of an all British heavyweight showdown under the lights of Wembley Stadium, on a warm summers evening, had British fans salivating.
Unfortunately, for Hearn and Joshua, Wilder has revealed to The Athletic’s Lance Pugmire, “The rematch is definitely going to happen.”
Wilder is yet to officially enact his rematch clause, but it is clearly his intention is to do so. So, where does this leave the fight between Fury and Joshua? Well, Joshua was already set to fight Kubrat Pulev on June 20 at a venue to be decided, if that goes ahead and Fury and Wilder will have their third fight at a similar time it will leave – the autumn open for Joshua v Fury.
As of Saturday night, Fury is the only one of the top eight heavyweight fighters with a spotless record according to Ring magazine’s independent rankings.
Fury will be hoping to do what he couldn’t last time and defend his titles in the ring still only 31, he still has years left at the top of his game. He will be hoping to cement his place as a true legend of the sport.
If we were to see Tyson Fury against Anthony Joshua, “it would be a monumental occasion for British sport,” says BBC 5 Live commentator Mike Costello.
Whatever the future holds for Fury and Joshua, it is a proud moment to be a British Boxing fan with every version of the heavyweight title residing in the United Kingdom.
By Alex Brinton
Photo credit: mmamania.com