Bare Knuck John Fury in Boxing Monthly

[BroughtonRulesRefuge]

Pretty fair interview of Tyson Fury's pop, John Fury in the latest issue of Boxing Monthly.

Talks about his bareknuck days, his brief boxing career, his bareknuck and traveller heritage, and of course his most beloved subject, sonny boy Tyson.

Anyone wish to weigh in on his rather formidable heritage? He's a very large Big George sized man who would've been hard to beat due to his size and strength.

Also, Tyson appears to have gotten to his current 8-0, 7 KO English champion and boxrec top 50 ranking based on the training provided by his uncle Hugh. Is this training and background good enough to advance his career to a title shot?

I otherwise know nothing of his training team.

[BroughtonRulesRefuge]

John Fury was a fairly average professional figher during the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was big and heavy and looked very menacing. No doubt he would have been a good streetfighter but as a pro he wasn't up to much - fairly slow and not much skill. I saw him unsuccessfully challenge Neil Malpass for the Central Area heavyweight title (about 1990). Malpass was basically a journeyman by this stage in his career but he still clearly outpointed Fury.

- I can see he turns pro at age 33 and would've been age 35 with a 6-1-1 record for that fight.

He complained he was never given proper training and then suddenly called up for fights. That and the age might explain the lack of speed. Tyson sure seems speedy enough for a heavy his size, so he must've gotten some speed from somewhere in the family genetic pool. His brothers are also posing in the background and look to be fairly stout.

It would be ironic if Tyson fell short for lack of proper training. It's quite a stretch for someone of that one off genetic and cultural background to enter into mainstream success in any profession. At any rate, Pop seems to have been successful enough to give Tyson a more stable upbringing without being on the road which may explain his amiable out of ring demeanor.

[Rocky Balboa]

What caught my eye was the last bit of the interview. Mr Fury say's: "Don't tell me Ali was as good as Tyson (his son) at the same age!"

I could have sworn April fools day only happened once a year!

[Datsue]

It's quite a stretch for someone of that one off genetic and cultural background to enter into mainstream success in any profession.

You do talk some utter shite.

[BroughtonRulesRefuge]

It's quite a stretch for someone of that one off genetic and cultural background to enter into mainstream success in any profession.

You do talk some utter shite.

- My little friend, I read the article and you didn't.

John Fury deliberately settles down so as to give his kids a more stable upbringing, but it was still fraught with challenges the average person doesn't face.

[Datsue]

- My little friend, I read the article and you didn't.

John Fury deliberately settles down so as to give his kids a more stable upbringing, but it was still fraught with challenges the average person doesn't face.

I am not referring to your normal wibbling, cretin. I refer once again to this line:

It's quite a stretch for someone of that one off genetic and cultural background to enter into mainstream success in any profession.

& for your information I have both read the article & am a bloody traveller (as were Vita Sackville-West, Mother Teresa, Yul Brynner & Charlie Chaplin, for what it's worth, though I'm not sure any of those guys read the article).

You are a patronising ignorant pudendum. Good-bye.

[BroughtonRulesRefuge]

& for your information I have both read the article & am a bloody traveller (as were Vita Sackville-West, Mother Teresa, Yul Brynner & Charlie Chaplin, for what it's worth, though I'm not sure any of those guys read the article).

You are a patronising ignorant pudendum. Good-bye.

- Well, now, that pretty much makes you the poster boy for the big dumb clods Fury Sr beat money out of as easy as pie according to him. Game to start a fight but too dumb and ill prepared to finish one.

The examples you cite, Brynner: Stable family of mixed ancestry claimed to be 1/4 gypsy among other claims later to be admitted as hype to boost his career. Chaplin, established family of actors also claimed gypsy heritage. Mother Teresa's father a politician and mother a housewife.

Not travelling travellers my little weakest link, settled and mixed into the community. Moreover, I never stated travellers could never succeed, only that it's a stretch to come out of that background and enter the mainstream sucessfully. That's why the stats they keep on travellers indicate a very high mortality rate, poor literacy, and poor overall health compared to the rest of the population and some genetic disorders born of the limited gene pool. Not to mention the claims of discrimination and persecution by the larger community who generally refuse to accept them historically.

I can claim to be 1/4 Apache, but if I was brought up on a beachfront estate by wealthy parents off of Long Island, I wouldn't be so stupid as to think I was actually REAL Apache from the reservation nor would my friends.

Great, I wanted to talk about John Fury's background and here you are in all your ignoble splendor.

[NazNaci1]

I, too have read the article....and knew about John's past as a 'knuckle' fighter.

John, to be fair, admits his limitations when confronted with fighters who knew how to box ie Akinwande and Fogarty.

Understandably, he is a little over enthusiastic about his son's ability, which is only natural. Most travellers dont have an easy life and are subjected to alot of prejudice.

John's done well and his son is doing ok (in boxing terms), despite the huge controvesy over his last match (see the various threads on these forums :) ).

Regarding the question, 'Is this training and background good enough to advance his career to a title shot? '. Training methods and teachers can be altered with (potentially) some improvements becoming evident. As for a title shot, well Tyson recently won the English Title (not the British :) ) against a former 2 time British title challenger. Credit to Tyson and his team for taking the McDermott match, a match many people thought he clearly lost, but in some ways it is a good to see 'prospects' taking some kind of risk to move forwards and not sit still, in their comfort zone, padding out their records.

Whether he goes all they way, part of the way or even if this is his level I do admire the aggressive match making and bottle they have displayed thus far.

[HomicideHenry]

This should have been tied in with my Modern Day Bare Knuckler's thread

[BroughtonRulesRefuge]

This should have been tied in with my Modern Day Bare Knuckler's thread

- Thought about it, but I wanted to delve more in the traveller/bareknuck background as it pertains gaining access to mainstream boxing.

It's clear a large segment of the public doesn't much care for John Fury and presumably his background which seems to me to have precipitated out in what I regard is a shameful anti-Tyson Fury tirade upon the finish the McD match. Now, I'm not privy to all that young Tyson has done or said previous to warrant this venom, but he gave an interview at a match in Ireland days later where he should be on this coming weeks card, and it was quite innocuous, yet he was blistered again by the Brit board.

It makes me think about his background and the difficulty of achieving mainstream success no matter the talent which seems formidable enough. It would behoove him at this point to be moved a bit slower and get out in some international exposure. Don't think the sunny isle can contain him if he is really going to be reaching for the stars, but I can't say either he or his team is ready for bigger plans, so hence the hopeful dialogue without the bile on the Brit board.

Is Fury the most sucessful mainstream boxer with a direct traveller background to date? Would that make his uncle Hugh the most successful traveller trainer? Not interested in these 1/4th traveller claims, we're all a bunch of mongrels by the historical record, but this a tiny culture he's been raised in. Just askin'.........

[BroughtonRulesRefuge]

Is Fury the most sucessful mainstream boxer with a direct traveller background to date?

There have been loads of really successful boxers with gypsy/traveller backgrounds: Tony Sibson, Johnny Frankham, and the Finnegan brothers, Chris and Kevin, for example.

- Did not know about Sibson and the Finnegan brothers. They would currently trump Fury if they came directly from traveller backgrounds.

[Controversial]

Another less successful fighter from the travelling fraternity is super featherweight Michael Gomez.

One up and coming fighter from a travelling family is Olympian is Billy Joe Saunders

[HomicideHenry]

Nice Controversial!