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<h1>Tyson Fury the new British giant on the heavyweight block </h1>
<h2>Tyson
Fury, the 20 year old 6ft 8ins heavyweight from Manchester turns his
back on Olympic glory in London for the professional ranks under
promoter Mick Hennessy </h2>
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By Gareth A Davies
Last Updated: 4:55PM GMT 06 Dec 2008
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Father and son: Tyson Fury (left) with his father 'Gypsy' John</span>
Photo: PA</span>
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Heavyweight boxer 'Gypsy' John Fury looked down on his son, born prematurely
at six and a half months and weighing 1lb. The vulnerable baby was the size
of his hand.
"The doctors told me there was not much chance of him living, and I had
lost two daughters in the same way who had been born prematurely," Fury
said as he related the events of 20 years ago to
The Sunday Telegraph
this week.
"They told me there was not much hope for him. It was 1988, Mike Tyson
was in his pomp as world heavyweight champion, and so I said 'Let's call him
Tyson...' The doctors just looked at me and smiled."
History is hard to fathom two decades on when confronted with the 6ft 8ins,
18st superheavyweight Tyson Fury of today, holder of the Amateur Boxing
Association superheavyweight title of 2008, who signed to the professional
ranks last night under promoter Mick Hennessy.
Baby Tyson Fury passed in and out of consciousness several times in those
first few harrowing days of life, yet is now a huge, handsome man with the
most exciting name in world boxing - the neophyte prize fighter hardly needs
a ring sobriquet - and could soon become another heavyweight aiming for
title glory in a slumbering world division.
"It seems it was meant to be," explained Fury Sr, a barndoor size
man from Wilmslow, Cheshire, who had 14 professional fights in the Eighties. "I've
never encouraged Tyson to fight. In fact, I've tried my best to discourage
him from being a boxer, but it's in him, he wasn't interested in anything
else. He's been in the gym since he was 12."
Young Fury has an amateur record of 34 fights, with 30 victories, 26 by
knockout and four losses, and evidently, fighting genes. He comes from a
well known family of fighting travellers which includes former professionals
Peter and Hugh Fury.
The heavyweight fighting lineage goes back another generation with young
Fury's grandfather Tiger Gorman, one of nine children, who came over from
Ireland, and had 60 heavyweight bouts as a journeyman in the 40s and 50s.
In the same week that four of Britain's Beijing Olympic boxers joined the paid
ranks - James DeGale, Frankie Gavin and Billy Joe Saunders (under Frank
Warren) and Tony Jeffries (under Dennis Hobson) - and openly criticised the
set-up and vicious in-fighting within the amateur sport, 20-year-old Fury
insisted he has also turned his back on hopes of glory at the London 2012
Olympics for the same reason: Boxing politics.
Fury was frustrated at playing second fiddle as an amateur to experienced
Liverpool boxer David Price, who took a bronze medal in Beijing in the
summer.
"I fought David Price three years ago, when I was 17. It was my ninth
amateur bout, I knocked him down in the fight, but lost it on points,"
explained Fury.
"Of course, it would have been great to try for the Olympic team and box
in London in 2012, but I could see from the start that boxing politics was
going to get in the way.
"It seemed nailed down that Price would be the superheavyweight fighting for
Britain. I wasn't selected because of politics. Staying amateur would have
restricted my opportunities. That's why I've turned pro."
Hennessy believes the ABA made a mistake in not grooming Fury for Beijing.
"I honestly believe that if the selectors had taken him to Beijing, he
would have won the gold medal. We have to be careful because the pro game is
very different to the amateurs, but his style is far more suited to the
pros.
"He could be winning domestic honours within six months and be a world
champion within four years. He is the best heavyweight I have seen since
Lennox Lewis - and he is still only 20."
Hennessy added: "He has a brilliant jab which reminds me of Larry Holmes,
and is very athletic, like the old heavyweights used to be. He also throws
punches in bunches, brilliant combinations, and he has a great chin. He
could be an absolute sensation."
Tyson Fury has just been unleashed on the heavyweight division. It could prove
to be a fascinating journey.
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