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Heavyweight Rankings

Tyson Fury

'the gypsy king'

Nation

UK

Date of birth

12 august, 1988 (35 Years Old)

Height

6 ft 9 (206 cm)

Reach

85 in (216 cm)

Wins

34

Losses

0

draws

1

Ko's

24

tyson fury bio

Tyson Fury

'the gypsy king'

Nation

UK

DATE OF BIRTH​

12 august, 1988 (35 Years Old)

Height

6 FT 9 (206 CM)

REACH​

85 IN (216 CM)

wins

34

Losses

0

draws

1

ko's

24

Titles Won

wba (super) world heavyweight
wbo world heavyweight
ibf world heavyweight
ibo world heavyweight

the ring lineal heavyweight (2x)

wbo inter-continental heavyweight

wbo international heavyweight

commonwealth heavyweight
european heavyweight
british heavyweight (4x)

irish heavyweight

Titles Won

wba (super) world heavyweight
wbo world heavyweight
ibf world heavyweight
ibo world heavyweight

the ring lineal heavyweight (2x)

wbo inter-continental heavyweight

wbo international heavyweight

commonwealth heavyweight
european heavyweight
british heavyweight (4x)

irish heavyweight

Background

Tyson Fury is of Irish descent through his father and grandfather who were born in Ireland, and regards himself as a traveller/gypsie culturally and ethnically because of his lineage and the culture he was raised in. According to his father John Fury, Tyson was named after Hall of Fame boxer Mike Tyson. 

At the age of 10, Fury started boxing like his father and uncles (Hughie and Peter Fury). His amateur career was noteworthy; in the World Junior Championships he won Bronze in 2006, in 2007 he won Silver during the European Junior Championships and he went on to win Gold in 2007 and 2008 during the EU Junior Champions and English National Championships respectively. Fury even came close to becoming picked for the 2008 Olympics, but he was snubbed in favor of David Price who had beaten him in a national competition two years before.

tyson fury background

Accomplishments

Tyson entered the pro’s in December 2008 and went on to win his first title (English Heavyweight) against fellow Brit John Mcdermott on September 11, 2010.  A year later, Fury won the British and Commonwealth Heavyweight titles against Derek Chisora, who had the same record as Fury’s at the time (14-0).  The next year he went on to win his first international title (WBO Inter-Continental Heavyweight) against American Vinny Maddalone, and the two years later he once again faced Chisora where he won himself another two titles (European Heavyweight and WBO International).

While Tyson Fury had been relatively successful and was regarded as the top British Heavyweight fighter at the time, it was against Wladimir Klitschko where he sealed his name in history. In 2015, Fury fought Klitschko for the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO and the The Ring titles and won by unanimous decision as an underdog. While the fight wasn’t regarded as exciting, Fury was lauded for the impressive skill set, ring IQ and clever strategy that won him the match.

Troubles outside The Ring, first attributed to a failed drug test for his rematch against Klitschko, later attributed to a spiral of problems allegedly involving drug abuse, overeating and alcoholism.

Three years later, Tyson Fury made a surprise comeback, after already being written off as a legitimate competitor due to his out-the-ring issues. His comeback into boxing became official on January 19, 2019 when the BBBofC (British Boxing Board of Control) re-instated his professional boxing license.

After two comeback/warm-up fights, ‘The Gypsy King’ received his chance to reclaim his position against the top through Deontay Wilder. Their match on December the 1st in 2018 marked a new era in boxing as despite the draw that was ruled by the judges, Fury was widely considered the winner of the bout according to critics and peers. His highly-effective unpredictable style of boxing and ring IQ were widely praised, but his ability to get up from a 12th round knockdown by Wilder (after getting knocked down earlier in the 9th) sealed Fury’s position as a top Heavyweight.

Fury subsequently stopped Wilder in the 7th round of their rematch, thereby putting an end to Wilder’s unbeaten streak by winning the WBC world title & the then-vacant The Ring lineal title. A third match with Wilder followed in October of 2021, this time as champion. Fury again came out on top, and despite suffering several knockdowns he beat Wilder soundly again by KO in the 11th round to retain his  titles. In April 2022, he defended his titles once more against Dillian Whyte  when he stopped the fellow Brit in the 6th round. He now stands on the brink of facing Oleksandr Usyk for the remaining Heavyweight titles; thus he stands to become the first Undisputed Heavyweight champion in more than two decades if he manages to win against the Ukrainian.

He defended his world title in a trilogy bout against Derek Chisora on December 3rd in 2022, and recorded a stoppage victory over Chisora, defending his WBC title for the second time of his career.

Tyson Fury subsequently did not manage to find an opponent until October 28th of 2023 where he faced former UFC Heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. Fury accrued a dubious split-decision win over Ngannou who made his pro boxing debut on the night.

Boxing Style

tyson fury boxing style

Walking at 6’9, Fury is known to be agile and evasive despite being one of the biggest men in the Heavyweight division. Fury may well be the best boxer of his generation, having cultivated his boxing skills from an early age and developed an unorthodox style where his size could be used to his advantage. His long, height, and frequent use of confusing tactics such as feinting has helped Fury establish himself as a very dangerous fighter both offensively and defensively. Despite certain peers calling Tyson Fury ‘pillow-fisted’ [1], Fury has managed to maintain a decently high KO-rate of around 70% throughout his career.

Following Fury’s draw with Deontay Wilder, Tyson trained with the nephew of the legendary late Emmanuel Steward, Sugar Hill Steward, and developed a ‘Kronk’ style of fighting, the inherent boxing style of Emmanuel Steward’s Kronk Gym. With the help of SugarHill Steward, Tyson developed better punching power, and became another alumnus of the gym that already listed the likes of Wladimir Klitschko, Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield and Julio César Chávez as former students.