Tyson Fury speaks out ahead of his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk (Image: undefined)
and have claimed British rival ‘s real name is Luke.
‘The Gypsy King’ has carved out a reputation as one of the finest heavyweights of his era and perhaps one of the greatest in the division’s history. The 36-year-old will go down in boxing history for his epic battle with Wladimir Klitschko and his thrilling trilogy with Deontay Wilder. In May, Fury tasted defeat for the first time as a pro, losing to in Saudi Arabia via split decision.
Watch Fury vs Usyk 2 for £24.99 on DAZN
Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk are set to lock horns again on December 21 with the Brit attempting to avenge his defeat by the Ukrainian in May.
You can watch the fight for £24.99 with DAZN pay-per-view.
Echoing the footsteps of his father John’s idol, Mike Tyson, Fury shared with Fight Hub TV in January the poignant reason behind his name: “I was born eight weeks premature and I died three times when I was a baby and I weighed in at one pound in weight. I was born in 1988, my dad was a huge boxing fan and he was also a professional boxer so he called me after his greatest ever fighter Mike.”
“He called me Tyson, it was my dad’s favourite fighter was Mike Tyson. Mike Tyson’s heyday was in 1988 – very fitting that I should go on to be the heavyweight champion of the world. Odds against that would be very stacked high, not in your favour. It’s a very interesting story but very achievable!”
But despite being christened with the moniker of a boxing great, Fury has often been dubbed ‘Luke’ by some figures within the boxing community. However, there’s no concrete evidence to support these claims. The name ‘Luke’ does appear as Tyson’s middle name on various official records, including those at Companies House, Boxrec, and Wikipedia.
The heavyweight titan’s long-standing adversary, Joshua, once cheekily addressed Fury as ‘Luke’ during a heated exchange on social media platform X, previously known as Twitter. Joshua’s jibe read: “If there was an arbitration going on, why announce to the world we are fighting! The fight was signed! UNDISPUTED. Bare knuckle? You’re a good kid, don’t play with me Luke! I’ll slap your bald head and you’ll do nothing! Waste man.”
Whyte, another professional pugilist, has also cast doubt over Fury’s first name. Speaking to The Sun, Whyte remarked: “My real name is Dillian. I know his real name is Luke. He changed it to Tyson to make himself sound harder.” “People can have a little look around on the internet and see for themselves. In boxing, the name Tyson is a lot more sellable than Luke. A lot of what Tyson does and says is a game, you can never take anything he says seriously or at face value. He might say he wants to fight me sometimes but how can you trust a man who doesn’t even use his own name? “.