Tyson Fury: The ‘Gypsy King’ of the Ring Full of Contradictions

As the boxing world eagerly awaits a true heavyweight title fight that will unify the division for the first time in over 20 years, Tyson Fury (35) emphasizes that Saturday’s bout with Oleksandr Usyk in Riyadh is primarily about the money.

“The truth is it’s exciting to me and attractive because of the amount of money I’m getting paid,” he said this week.

“Not because of the belts that are on the line.”

While it’s true that the self-proclaimed ‘Gypsy King’—Fury, the son of Irish Travellers—will earn well over $100 million from the fight, there’s a sense he might be masking something deeper.

For Gypsy King, read ‘Contradiction King.’

Fury, now 35, fully understands the significance of this fight: a chance to secure a place among the all-time greats of boxing history.

Going back to Jack Dempsey in the 1920s, only 23 fighters can claim that legendary status, including icons like Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Muhammad Ali, and Mike Tyson.

No one has achieved this since another British boxer, Lennox Lewis, defeated Evander Holyfield in 1999.

Usyk holds the WBA, WBO, IBF, and IBO belts, while Fury has held the WBC title since 2020.

So is it just about the Saudi money, appealing as it might be?

“There are so many belts on the line and nothing competes with that,” Fury said last month, directly contradicting this week’s statement.

“This is the fight of the ages, nothing can compare with this. Not a show fight, not a crossover fight, not YouTube boxing, nothing.

“This is two undefeated world heavyweight champions colliding for all the belts, and it hasn’t been done since whenever.”

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‘My Destiny’

Fury’s boxing journey began at birth in Manchester. Born two months premature and weighing only 450 grams (1 lb)—he will weigh around 125 kilos (20 stone) for Saturday’s fight—Fury had an early battle for survival.

Fury’s father, also a boxer, admired his fighting spirit and named him Tyson, after Mike Tyson.

He grew rapidly—now standing at 2.06 meters (six foot nine inches)—and left school at 11 to focus on boxing.

In 2008, at the age of 20, he made his professional debut by stopping Hungarian fighter Bela Gyongyosi in the first round.

Sixteen years later, his record boasts an impressive 34 wins, 24 by knockout, and no defeats, with the only blemish being a draw with Deontay Wilder in January 2018.

That draw was the first of three fights between them, with Fury knocking Wilder down in the subsequent two fights.

The early highlight of his career was a unanimous points victory over Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko in 2015, but the lowest point soon followed this as he tested positive for the banned substance nandrolone and then cocaine.

This led to a spiral in his mental health, and he relinquished all his titles: at that point, Fury had become a Whimper.

However, his strength, and that of his wife Paris, helped him come back and reach the top once more.

Fury has the build, power, and presence to hurt his opponents, but his mental weakness could be his downfall.

His last fight in October, also in Riyadh, was against UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, who was making his boxing debut.

An overweight, sluggish Fury struggled. He was knocked down in the third round but went on to win via a controversial split decision.

That performance did not sway Lennox Lewis, who believes Fury has the capability to follow him as the undisputed heavyweight champion.

“I’ve been watching him for a long time and he’s a good boxer,” Lewis told The Guardian.

“Tyson Fury’s got lots of different weapons in his arsenal. He has shown in the fights with Deontay Wilder he is aggressive and moves forward well.

“Those fights really showed his skill, his talent, his ring generalship.

“I would put money on Fury—as long as it is the 100 percent focused Fury.”

The ‘Gypsy King’ himself has no doubt that this is the moment he joins those other boxing legends.

“If Tyson Fury can’t beat Usyk, Tyson’s no good, end of,” he said.

“This is my time, my destiny, my era, and my generation. Fact.”