Last weekend Tyson Fury achieved an enormous triumph when he became the first
professional boxer ever to knock out American boxer Steve Cunningham. "I am
proud of what I am, and that’s a Traveller,” the heavyweight Fury
told The
Independent. Last weekend in the USA was his 21st victory in a professional
ring.
His victory in the elimination match for the IBF title in Madison Square
Garden was not at all as easy as he had imagined, however. Just a few seconds
before the end of the seventh round he was losing to Cunningham on points.
Fury’s victory was sealed by his limber, quick right hook. His opponent went
down and never got up.
After the match, Fury expressed appreciation of his rival for some of the
blows he struck. "He has a brilliant right. He got me, but I’ll take that as
experience for the future to learn from. It was only a matter of time before I
reached my target and knocked him out,” Fury said.
American Steve Cunningham took defeat hard, as he made clear in his remarks
after the match. "I think I really startled him and hurt his ego. You can watch
a recording of the match yourselves – there were so many fouls, shoulders,
elbows… He knew he couldn’t defeat me any other way, so he tried some dirty
tricks and unfortunately got away with them. My conscience is clean. I did
everything I could to win. I just fought, because that’s what I am, a fighter
who leaves his heart in the ring,” Cunningham said after the match.
Fury has never lost a professional fight to date, knocking out his rivals in
15 out of his 21 victories. His promoter Mick Hennessy has said Fury should go
up against a legend of contemporary professional boxing, Vladimir Kličko, this
year. Before then, however, Fury will evidently have to defeat the Bulgarian
fighter Kubrat Pulev.
Tyson Fury was born in Manchester, England into a family of Irish Travellers.
His father named him Tyson after world boxing champion Mike Tyson. Fury is proud
of his origins; even though he now lives in his own large house, he has not
forgotten his roots. "I’m proud of what I am,” he says of his Romany origin. "The
Traveller background gives you that ultimate fighting steel, the determination
and will to win, to dig deep. There’s no loser in me. As a Traveller you never
regret anything. You do what you have to do and move on."
Before going pro in 2008, Fury represented both England and Ireland as an
amateur. He won 31 of 35 amateur matches, delivering 26 knockouts.
Fury won the bronze medal at the Junior World Championship in 2006. He almost
played on the Olympic team in 2008 in Beijing, but each country could only have
one boxer. England was represented by David Price and Fury did not succeed in
qualifying to represent Ireland. He decided not to wait another four years for
an Olympic opportunity and went professional.
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