John Fury knew his son was destined for boxing greatness when a 14-year-old Tyson broke his dad’s ribs when he was just 14.
Today, Fury reigns as the WBC champion having made an incredible rise to the pinnacle of the heavyweight division, which has culminated in a challenge for the undisputed world titles against Oleksandr Usyk on May 18.
John Fury spotted talent in his son from an early ageCredit: Getty
A student of boxing, it has been part of his life for as long as he can remember, with his dad, John, fighting 13 times as a professional winning eight times.
Fury Sr has five children with two of them boxers, including Tommy Fury, but he revealed Tyson showed immediately promise after inflicting an injury on him in a sparring session during his youth.
The champion recalled the story in his 2019 autobiography ‘Behind The Mask’: “My dad did get up an up-close-and-personal view of my talent when I was just fourteen.
“He was still keeping in decent shape and was working out on a bag in our shed and we got talking about his career.
“I cheekily said to him that I’d been watching him on video and he wasn’t that good!
“So he said, ‘Right let’s get the gloves and see how you can handle yourself.’
“He thought he was going to give me a right beating but early on I cracked him with a left hook. Boom! His ribs cracked but he came right back at me.
“But I was beating him up and we agreed that it was better for him to sit down because I was getting the better of him.
Fury will support his son for his history-defining clash with UsykCredit: Getty
“In the fourteen fights he had as a professional he admitted to me that he had never been hurt like that before.
“I think we both knew then that I was a bit different and that making a career for myself in professional boxing was not going to be a problem for me – at least in the ring.”
It appears that this bone-crushing moment was a turning point in the career of the eventual champion, whose talent was on display for his family to see.
Fury’s father decided to guide the young puncher into the sport, which has turned out to see him thrust into a whirlwind of success.
The talented star went on to win a host of amateur titles before turning over as a professional in 2008 on the undercard of Carl Froch’s showdown with Jean Pascal.
It was clear from the off that Fury had a remarkable skillset, and also possessed a huge size advantage over the majority of his rivals standing at 6ft 9ins.
The ‘Gypsy King’ went on to win a host of British, Commonwealth and European titles before receiving his life changing shot at Wladimir Klitschko in Germany in 2015.
He quickly rose to fame by putting in an incredible masterclass against the Ukrainian to become unified world champion for the first time.
Despite having a hiatus due to mental health struggles, Fury’s rise to stardom has not stopped since seeing him headlining the US in big fights with Deontay Wilder, while selling out Wembley Stadium in a 2022 clash with Dillian Whyte.
In the present day, Fury is looking to become undisputed champion, a historic feat which hasn’t been completed by a heavyweight since Lennox Lewis in 1999.
A win could see him ranked as one of the greatest heavyweights of all-time, but he will have to beat Usyk twice with an immediate rematch clause already in place.
