Born in Manchester on August 12, 1988, Tyson Fury is the son of Irish Traveller parents, hence his nickname, ‘The Gypsy King’. English National Champion in 2008, Fury amassed a 20-3-0 record as an amateur, including and made a seamless transition to the professional ranks, defeating Hungarian Bela Gyongyosi by technical knockout after 2:14 of the first round at the Nottingham Arena on December 6, 2008.
Thereafter, Fury would remain unbeaten for his first 35 professional fights, before finally losing, by split decision, to Oleksandr Usyk at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on May 18, 2024, in what was the first undisputed world heavyweight championship contest since November 13, 1999. Nevertheless, as WBO number two contender, with a 34-1-1 professional record, Fury is set to meet Usyk again in a rematch, at the same venue, on December 21, 2024, so will have at leeast one opportunity to avenge the first defeat of his 16-year professional career.
Prior to the first Usyk fight, the closest Fury had come to defeat was a split-decision draw with Deontay Wilder at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on December 1, 2018, during which he was floored twice, in the ninth and twelfth rounds, but beat the count on both occasions. Having failed to win the WBC world heavyweight title on that occasion, Fury dethroned Wilder in a rematch at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in February 2020, courtesy of seventh-round technical knockout, and confirmed his superiority by knocking out the American after 1:10 of the eleventh round in the trilogy fight at the T-Mobile Arena, also in Las Vegas, the following September, although he was also on the floor twice in the fourth round.
Of course, earlier in his career, Fury also fought a war of attrition with by then 67-fight Wladimir Klitschko at the Esprit Arena in Dusseldorf on November 28, 2015, with the IBF, IBO, WBA (super), WBO, Lineal and ‘The Ring’ heavyweight titles on the line. He won by unanimous decision,
115–112, 115–112,116–111.
