Tyson Fury, a.k.a. "The Gypsy King", again defends his boxing title as world champion
The British boxer Tyson Fury knocked down his compatriot Dillian Whyte in the sixth round of the title match at London’s Wembley Stadium to defend his WBC heavyweight championship belt. The 33-year-old winner recorded his 32nd victory in the professional ring, leaving undefeated.
Before the match, Fury announced that the fight with Whyte would be his last. “I promised my wonderful wife Paris that it would be over after this fight. I meant it,” Fury said.
However, Paris has indicated that this may not have been Fury’s last match. “I do want him to quit. He doesn’t have to prove anything to anybody anymore. Just if there’s a unification match. That’s the only reason he would return to the ring,” she said.
Fury sent Whyte to the mat in front of 94 000 spectators with a right uppercut. The challenger, who is one year older than Fury, did get back to his feet but was clearly unable to continue, and the referee ended the match.
“Dillian is a warrior and I believe he will be world champion one day. He is strong as a bull and has the heart of a lion. However, today he came across one of the best boxers in heavyweight history. Unfortunately for Dillian, it was me,” Fury said.
The popular “Gyspy King” recorded his 32nd victory in his 33rd match, 23 of which have ended in knockouts. The only match he did not win was the first of his three matches with the American boxer Deontay Wilder in December 2018, which ended in a draw.
Whyte has now suffered his third defeat against 28 wins (involving 19 knockouts). Originally, Fury had sought a so-called unification match with his compatriot Anthony Joshua, but Joshua lost his belts from the IBF, WBA and WBO, all the main organizations in boxing, last September after he was defeated by Ukrainian challenger Alexander Usyk.
The fight with Whyte was for about USD 41 million, and Fury received 80 percent of the generous reward. He was born in Manchester, England to a family of Irish Travelers.
His father named him Tyson after world boxing champion Mike Tyson. Fury is proud of his background.
“I’m proud of who I am,” he says of his origins. “I’m glad… My Traveler origins give me the determination and the will to win, to reach the bottom. There’s no defeat in me. As a Traveler, I never regret anything. I know what to do and how to move on,” he has previously said.
In the British Isles, groups of Travellers who made their living on the road existed even before the arrival of Romani people there at the beginning of the 16th century. As both the Roma and the Travellers engaged in similar lifestyles, their interconnectedness deepened through mixed marriages over time, and the non-Romani, non-Traveller population still perceives them as essentially a single group.
