Tyson Fury’s South Yorkshire connections explored as former world champion prepares for comeback bout
After a 15-month hiatus, boxing will once again this weekend welcome back one of its biggest characters in both a literal and metaphorical sense in the form of Tyson Fury.
Standing at 6 ft 9 in, it is hard to miss the former heavyweight champion, who has dominated the headlines for the last 18 years since turning professional in December 2008.
Whether it’s for his in-the-ring heroics such as surprising the world by beating Wladimir Klitschko or coming out on top in trilogies against Derek Chisora and Deontay Wilder, it’s fair to say that Fury has certainly made his mark in the sport of boxing to become one of the countries most successful heavyweights. And that’s without even mentioning his pre-fight antics such as dressing up as Batman or his sauna stories with Dr Steelhammer himself.
Fury’s career achievements have made him one of the most highly paid sports stars in the world, while he’s even cracked Netflix as fans look ahead to a second series of ‘At Home With The Furys’. However, despite all this, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that you’d catch him shopping in a South Yorkshire B&M store due to his down to earth connections and his affiliation with the area.
Fury grew up in Manchester in a traveller family, but he’s spent plenty of time in South Yorkshire over the years.
His wife Paris grew up in a traveller family in Doncaster and the pair met at traveller gatherings, often going to the cinema and ice skating in their free time as they got to know each other, before eventually becoming an item.
The two childhood sweethearts got married at St Peter-In-Chains Roman Catholic Church in Doncaster, South Yorkshire in 2008. The wedding was followed by a reception at The Stables in High Melton. Paris had just turned 18 when she married her childhood sweetheart while Fury, still only 20, was yet to make his professional debut against Béla Gyöngyösi.
Since tying the knot, the couple have spent most of their time at a luxury home in Morecambe, where they have seven children Venezuela, Prince John James, Prince Tyson II, Valencia, Prince Adonis Amaziah, Athena, and Prince Rico Paris. However, Fury still visits Doncaster fairly frequently to keep up with friends and family.
In December 2015, the fighter stunned shoppers in the Doncaster Church View branch of bargain store B&M when he popped in to do a spot of Christmas shopping.
While as recently as last year, he was seen with family enjoying a day out at the Doncaster races.
At the time, he ruled out the possibility of coming out of retirement, describing the sport as a ‘young man’s game’, having last fought in December 2024, in what proved to be a second consecutive defeat against the only opponent to defeat him, Oleksandr Usyk.
However, in true Fury fashion, the Gypsy King is now back in the sport once again and aiming to prove that he still has what it takes to become world champion for a third time.
He takes on experienced Russian fighter Arslanbek Makhmudov in a 12-round bout in London at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, 11 April. Fury is not fighting for a world title, but is aiming to get himself back in contention for a third fight against unbeaten champion Usyk at some point in the near future.
He’s the clear favourite to overcome Makhmudov, but will need to be wary of the threat posed by the 36-year-old, who earned an impressive unanimous decision victory in his last fight at the Sheffield Arena against Doncaster-born fighter Dave Allen.
Fury’s bout with Makhmudov will be shown live on Netflix, with the event beginning with an undercard at 7pm. The main event itself is expected to start at around 10.30pm.