Who is the real Tyson Fury? Over the course of his 16-year career as a boxer, it’s been difficult to put a finger on it.
The Gypsy King is an enigma of different personalities with a larger than life aura that has at times enthralled the world of boxing while leaving it frustrated and baffled on other occasions.
In truth, you never quite know what you’re going to get with Fury – the man who has regularly threatened to retire before leaping back into action and teased huge fights only to then cancel plans just days later.
The 35-year-old will face Ukrainian fighter Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia on May 18 in a fight where the winner will become undisputed heavyweight world champion, with the contest dubbed ‘The Ring of Fire’. That might also be a way to describe Fury’s topsy-turvy life and career.
Fans were given a glimpse into that very way of life after Netflix released a fly-on-the-wall documentary at his family home – titled ‘At Home With the Furys’, showing off his house in Morecambe and his interactions with Paris, their seven children, father John and Love Island star brother Tommy.
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Tyson Fury’s life and career has been chaotic from start to finish ahead of Oleksandr Usyk fight
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The Gypsy King gave an insight into his family life after letting Netflix cameras into his home
The show was positively received as viewers were treated to candid conversations and a behind the scenes look at the key people in Fury’s life, including chats between Tommy and his model girlfriend Molly-Mae Hague.
Fury – who has bipolar disorder – gave a fascinating insight into his relationship with his family, continuing his classically chaotic behaviour by inviting his father John on a trip to Italy, before changing his mind and slyly telling him the flights had been cancelled.
But shortly after the documentary was released, Fury revealed that he thought signing up to have cameras in his house was ‘a mistake’ and that he had explored ways to end their contract with Netflix mid-way through filming.
‘Yeah I wanted out, he told Capital XTRA Breakfast.’ I was a couple of weeks in [and] I’d be on the phone with my lawyers [saying], “Is there any way I can get out of this? I don’t know what I’ve signed up for again”. I never said I’d do it again, I’ve done it again, I’ve made a mistake.’
Fury even credited his bipolar as being part of his decision making process over the documentary and other aspects in his life.
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Fury quickly decided he didn’t want the documentary to be filmed midway through – before changing his mind and agreeing to a second season
‘That’s just my bipolar going up and down all the time,’ he added. ‘One minute I’m happy, the next minute I’m not and it’s very evident to see my emotional roller-coaster throughout this episode. People are going to be shocked because I can take 10 turns in an hour.’
Now Fury has been spotted filming season two of At Home With the Furys.
It’s very much a case of ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ with how quickly things change with the family.
That continued the theme of Fury’s chaotic career, which saw him claim he was retired after defeating Dillian Whyte in April 2022 and that ‘no amount of money’ would lure him back – even betting Piers Morgan £1million he would not U-turn on his decision.
‘This is the truth, the gospel truth, nothing but the truth – I’m done. Every good dog has its day. It’s not about money for me. A lot of people in this world, everything is about money, and more money and more money. I’ve got enough money. I’ve got enough of everything I need.’
Shortly after, he insisted it would take £500m to tempt him out of retirement after being questioned whether he could fight either Usyk or British rival Anthony Joshua.
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Fury has often threatened to retire and then made a massive U-turn – and has also contradicted himself over being motivated by money
‘You better have a big cheque book, because to bring the big ‘GK’ out of retirement… it’s going to cost,’ he said.
Of course, he did come out of retirement just eight months after initially announcing he was hanging up his gloves as he returned against Dereck Chisora – a fight which earned him a reported £26m.
He’d go on to agree a fight against Usyk the following year in 2023 – before calling it off after negotiations collapsed over a disputed purse split, even after Usyk agreed to take home 30 per cent, as he took on UFC star Francis Ngannou in a money-spinning crossover bout that saw him collect at least £50m.
Now he’s finally nailed down a date with Usyk, with his 70 per cent split set to hand him more than double his purse with Ngannou at £116m. So it is about the money after all. Fury even confirmed that as he went back on himself ahead of this fight.
‘If it was belts that drive me I’d go to Matalan and buy 50 belts,’ he said.
‘It’s the money that drives me, not the belts. I’ve been very open in my whole career telling you all it’s only about the coins and I’ll stand by it today… So for me to say to you all, “Oh, I wanna win 20 belts, it’s not about the money”, it ain’t true, is it? It ain’t true.’
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His fight against Usyk (right) has been postponed a number of times and there have been questions over his desire for the showdown
It’s the classic rollercoaster Fury ride that the man himself referenced. A rollercoaster ride that has seen him go from world champion in 2015 to depression and being on the verge of suicide – before ballooning to 28 stone in weight and rising to the summit of the sport again in 2020 by dethroning feared heavyweight Deontay Wilder.
At his lowest ebb, Fury said he came close to taking his own life following his win over long-reigning champion Wladimir Klitschko in Germany after turning to drugs and alcohol and questioning what more he had left to achieve in life after such a notable high.
‘One day I woke up and thought “today’s the day I end it all”,’ he said in an ITV interview. ‘I was heading towards this bridge, I was going to smash the car into the bridge at very high speed, I just didn’t have the ambition to live any more.
‘Before I got to the bridge I heard a voice saying “don’t do this, you’re going to destroy your family’s life” and I immediately pulled the car over and that was the first time I thought, “right, now or never. I need to get well immediately”.’
That vow to turn his life around saw him shed nine stone in less than two years before making his comeback to the ring in 2018 and then things started getting better.
He returned to his charismatic self, secured more lucrative fights against the likes of Wilder before becoming heavyweight champion again.
He looks to be enjoying fighting again and is in much better shape these days – looking particularly lean in his second fight against Wilder that saw him claim his world title belt.
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Fury has battled back from the brink of suicide and his weight has fluctuated over the years
But his weight has fluctuated, much like his state of mind across his career, and there have been times when Fury’s desire to continue in the sport has looked questionable, particularly after looking off the pace and out of shape when he very narrowly beat Ngannou – a UFC fighter in his first pro boxing fight – in Saudi Arabia last year.
His own dad admitted that Fury’s conditioning needed improving and that he was ‘declining’ in his last few fights.
‘In my opinion, Tyson needs a bit more time to get his conditioning right and his weight right,’ Fury Snr said.
‘For me it looked like he had lost 20lbs of muscle last time. Something was wrong.
‘For my money, his last three fights, I have seen a bit of decline. Not a decline in ability but a decline in strength, power and physical condition. I don’t know what they are doing up there, you have to address it. He didn’t look himself out in Saudi.
‘He didn’t look right, everything had changed about him, his demeanour, his body. I was puzzled.’
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The Gypsy King now looks like he’s in ripped condition as the May 18 Usyk fight draws closer
But just like he always does, Fury has turned it around again right at the last minute.
Ahead his fight against Usyk – the feared southpaw fighter who has never lost – his opponent’s camp questioned whether he would even turn up after postponing their scheduled bout earlier this year with a freak cut above his eye.
After facing accusations he was ‘scared’ and that his ‘legs had gone’ from fans and pundits, Fury hit back at any suggestions he was done with the sport as he showed off pictures of his trimmed physique just weeks out from the fight.
It’s hard to deny Fury now looks the most ripped he’s ever been for this fight having finally upped his intensity for what looks to be the biggest fight of his life.
After claims that he barely trained for the inexperienced Ngannou – who floored him in the third round – Fury’s sparring partner Martin Bakole confirmed those theories by revealing how things looked from his perspective during the training camp.
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Fury was heavily criticised after being downed by the inexperienced Francis Ngannou but looks to be back on track
‘If you watch my interview [at the event] when people are asking me, I was saying I will not be surprised to see Ngannou drop Tyson Fury, because, to be honest, Tyson was not 100 per cent focused in the gym,’ he said.
‘I’ve never seen Tyson training like that. He was doing four rounds, six rounds in the gym for sparring.
‘That’s not the Tyson Fury I know when he was preparing for Klitschko, Chisora, and Dillian Whyte. This was different.’
Fury has surprised us again and looks to have put those doubts behind him – for now at least.
This time there is seemingly nothing to stop Fury from fully focusing on this fight. He has come through difficult moments in the past.
Just before his huge third fight against Wilder in 2021, his newborn daughter Athena was in intensive care and put on a ventilator.
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There is full focus on this fight after he and wife Paris dealt with a series of tragedies and setbacks
He and wife Paris had already endured the horror of a stillbirth in 2014 – at the same time Fury’s uncle Hughie passed away – while the mother of his children also suffered a miscarriage in 2018 head of his big comeback fight against Sefer Seferi.
And in 2022, Fury’s cousin Rico Burton was stabbed to death in Altrincham following a fight outside a bar.
Fury released a statement, calling for an end to knife crime, saying: ‘Life is very precious and it can be taken away very quick enjoy every moment… RIP Rico Burton may the lord God grant you a good place in heaven. see you soon.’
Without a doubt, Fury’s life and career has carried more ups and downs than any rollercoaster but with a rematch against Usyk around the corner, plus a craved fight against British rival Anthony Joshua in the offing – plus another season of his documentary – there is bound to be a few more twists and turns in his story to come.
