John Fury is as interesting to fight fans as his son. Photo: Getty Images/Richard Pelham
John Fury, the flamboyant and controversial father of world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, is as admired by fight fans as his son. And this was confirmed again on the first day of preparations for the undisputed heavyweight fight with Alexander Usik, when the former boxer was left bleeding from his forehead after a quarrel with representatives of the opposition entourage.
Despite the hype surrounding Fury during fight weeks, 'Big John' insists he finds it strange that there is so much interest in him. “Why are they fascinated by me? “I haven’t done much, but I’m open and I’m letting it go,” the 59-year-old explained in an exclusive interview with Telegraph Sport ahead of Monday’s scandal.
Fury with blood on his face after head-butting a member of Usik's camp. Photo: PA/Nick Potts
But there is no escape from Fury's intervention. Asked what he regrets in his life, Fury Sr. replied: “Good question. The only thing I should have done was think more before I acted. [It is] obvious…” In 2011, Fury was found guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm for gouging out a man's eye in a fight. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison and served until February 2015.
“Sometimes decisions can be made too quickly and that was my biggest flaw, but my father told me that every day. He said, “Son, you're overreacting, you're not thinking things through enough.” You're breaking in…” I changed, but it's too late.
“I had to because I have to bite my lip every day.”
Born in Tuam, Galway, to Irish Traveler parents, he spent most of his life in Lancashire and comes from “10 generations of hand-to-hand fighters.”
Fury, who has a physique like a barn door, had a professional boxing career of eight years, from 1987 to 1995, and had 13 fights. But there were also hand-to-hand fights.
He has an unbridled passion for his sons when they are at camp, be it Tyson or Tommy, the latter a young fighter who rose to fame after a stint on the reality show Love Island. Tommy went on to battle powerbrokers Jake Paul and KSI and became a multi-millionaire.
Fury's father describes his antics – including criticizing the media for covering Tyson's triumph over Wladimir Klitschko, head-butting and punching the plexiglass screen as Tommy fought KSI, or ripping off his shirt to get at Jake Paul – as a demonstration “passions”. . However, a few moments later, Fury Sr. may be the calmest person in the room.
Fury Sr. throws the table when confronted by KSI and Logan Paul. Photo: Action Images/Andrew Boyers
He insists that no man born can defeat his son Tyson. “No, man,” he repeats. On Saturday, Tyson Fury faces his toughest test to date against Usyk, a master of the game and tactics.
“I'm passionate about everything I do, even if it's just painting the walls in my house.” Fury Sr. explained. “I want it done, blown up. The same thing happens with everything: you are who you are. I'm an outspoken person who wears my heart on my sleeve.
“I tell it like it is, and in today's world there aren't enough people who tell it like it is, because they have to think about work, they have to think about what other people think… I'm not interested in that because money is not my strong point. I've got a roof over my head, I've got an old car to drive, I've got a few pounds in my pocket, and I'll say what I want.”
John Fury looked after his son Tyson's boxing career from the very beginning. Photo: Alami/David Oates
John grew up in an 18ft x 6ft van with three brothers, all big men, which he describes as “happy times”. He goes on to say, “On the one hand, it was hard, but there was honesty.” When he was young, he sold rugs and his father told him to sell 50 before he returned home.
What keeps Fury Sr. grounded is the time spent in the country alone, “living the old way” , with fire, living off the land” and “much guided by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Fury explains: “I mention him because without him nothing is possible, he and faith can move mountains and I always knew that because when I boxed I thought, 'Oh, not again.' But I needed money, I needed to feed the children.
“I thought that today I don’t need this, but I have to do it, and at the end, when I had my last fight and it didn’t work out very well , because I had to get in the damn ring with an athlete, you'll hurt yourself. I walked back to the locker room dejected and thought to myself: “You know what, maybe one day I will have a son who can show his best side…”
Then Tyson was born. “When Tyson was born, he almost died, he only weighed a pound, and when I saw him – I wrote it down in my book – it was like a warm feeling. When I looked at him, it was like the presence of God. I thought, “Special.” When his own grandfather Burton saw him—and the man was long gone—he told me, “He's going to be a great man one day.” Nobody knew how great it was, but now we're going to see the best it's ever been, we're going to see the best Tyson Fury there's ever been…”
Like Tyson, Fury Sr. can be gentle at times, maintaining wisdom, and then suddenly ready for war. “Furies are warlike people,” he adds. “That's the way they were raised and that's the way they always will be.”
After the furor died down on Monday, Fury told an online channel: “It's testosterone, isn't it? And I'm full of it. From boots to the top of my head… It could have been worse. I could give him an uppercut and a right hand and send him to the promised land.”
You suspect that when one of John Fury's sons fights, the situation will never change.
Recent Comments