TYSON FURY walked into his undisputed fight against Oleksandr Usyk a shadow of his usual self after wife Paris’ heartbreaking miscarriage.
The Gypsy King, 36, didn’t even have full confirmation that his baby boy had been lost – a harrowing six months into the pregnancy.
But when Paris couldn’t turn up to the Riyadh bout, he knew deep down that tragedy had struck.
Trainer and confidante Andy Lee, who has known Tyson all of his life, has confirmed to SunSport that while it is categorically not an excuse for the split decision loss in May, he saw right up until the first bell that his man was up against much more than just the Ukrainian genius.
Lee told SunSport: “I wasn’t aware of it (Paris’ miscarriage). I knew she was expecting a child. She’s always at the fights and I was expecting her to be there, really.
“When she wasn’t there I thought maybe she can’t fly or something like that.
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“Tyson never mentioned it. He never mentioned it once but he was very quiet.
“Even the day of the fight in the afternoon, the fight takes place so late over there, it must have been about 6 or 7pm, we all went for a walk and he was very quiet.
“We had a good chat, me and him, just talking about his career and how far he’d come and what this moment meant to him.
“There was a certain quietness to him or maybe a sadness but that was probably playing on his mind.
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“When you watch a fight, you’re just seeing a fight. But the months and weeks leading up to that fight dictate how the fight turns out, how it goes for you.
“So being cut, not having a full, proper training camp and maybe having something like that in the back of your mind, it all leads into your performance.”
Lee, 40, then gave a behind-the-scenes glimpse into what his friend may have been going through on the night.
He continued: “For me, what was quite telling, was… when Tyson makes his ring walk I’ll go to the ring first, I won’t go on the ring walk with him.
“I’ll go to the ring and make sure I’m in the ring before Tyson gets to the ring, to give him water and just be there, have someone to meet him.
“I watched Usyk come into the ring and his crew and all the team and he was settling himself, Usyk, he was quite focused and present.
“When Tyson got into the ring I could see somebody who was a little bit agitated and I think all of those little things that were going on in the build-up to the fight maybe were playing on his mind, or maybe just having that bit of anxiety about him.
‘HE WASN’T REALLY HIMSELF’
“I could see, if you watch the fight back, before the fight he wasn’t really himself. Like usually he’s quite within himself.
“So just an interesting insight, something I noticed straight away when he got into the ring.”
Dad-of-seven Fury went on to lose the bout via split decision, the first defeat of his distinguished career.
Only in October did the Gypsy King reveal that Paris had suffered a devastating miscarriage just hours before the fight.
I could not be there for her in that moment. And that is tough for me
Tyson Fury
Tyson and Paris are parents to Venezuela, 15, Prince John James, 13, Prince Tyson II, eight, Valencia, seven, Prince Adonis Amaziah, five, Athena, three and Prince Rico, one
While stressing that he was not looking to make excuses, he explained: “The one that she was having, she lost that on the Friday of the fight, which was pretty s****y.
“I am not making excuses but she was six months pregnant, it’s not like a small miscarriage at the beginning, you have to physically give birth to a dead child, on your own, while your husband is in a foreign country.
“I could not be there for her in that moment. And that is tough for me.
“I have been with the woman for longer than I wasn’t with her, so it is hard that I couldn’t be there with her, in that time.
“When she said she couldn’t come over, I knew there was a problem.
“She usually comes out on fight week but she said she had high blood pressure.
“She said she couldn’t come and I asked her what was up and asked her to tell me but she wouldn’t.
“So I knew, I knew, I knew there was a problem. I said to my brother, ‘She’s lost that baby.’
“She never told me she had lost the baby, but I knew.”
‘DO I TELL HIM?
Ahead of the Usyk fight, Paris agonised over whether to tell Fury straight away.
She told the Mirror last month: “I had to make the decision, do I tell him? And I came to the conclusion that whatever was happening with me, I couldn’t change it. But I could change dramatically what was happening in his life.
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“I made up a lie that I had high blood pressure. It was the only thing I could think of that would stop me from flying without having to give him the terrible news.”
Fury is set to meet Usyk again on December 21 in Saudi Arabia.
Fury vs Usyk 2: Ring walk time, TV channels and undercard – all you need to know for big rematch
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
