Tyson Fury has revealed he was struck by personal tragedy on the eve of his fight with Oleksandr Usyk that was only confirmed when he returned home to Morecambe.
The Gypsy King, 35, was defeated by Oleksandr Usyk in a fight for the ages in May 2024.
Fury’s wife Paris was six months pregnant with their eighth child – a boy – but suffered a miscarriage the day before he lost his WBC world heavyweight title to Usyk in Saudi Arabia.
Speaking on the subject for the first time, an anguished Fury told how he was shielded from the news ahead of his bid to become the division’s first undisputed champion for 24 years.
But he feared the worst when he learned Paris was too ill to attend the fight in Riyadh.
Asked if he was planning on having any more children, the 36-year-old replied: ‘Never say never. I only have seven.
‘The one that she was having, she lost that on the Friday of the fight, which was pretty s****y.
‘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. To go through that on your own isn’t good.
‘I could not be there for her in that moment. And that’s tough for me. I have been with the woman for longer than I wasn’t with her, so it’s 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.
‘Turki Alalshikh (chairman of Saudi’s General Entertainment Authority) offered us a private jet to get around the high blood pressure and said she could bring the doctor with her.
‘She said she couldn’t come. 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.
‘When I got back I got the inevitable confirmation that it was gone, but she had kept it to herself.”
Fury is insistent the unfolding tragedy had no bearing on his clash with Usyk, a fight he believes he won but which was awarded to the Ukrainian by split decision.
The rivals will meet again on December 21 but without the IBF belt at stake after Usyk chose to relinquish it rather make a mandatory defence. Daniel Dubois is now the IBF champion.
‘It’s not an excuse – hell no. I am a man of honour. I do what I have to do when I am in there,’ he said.
‘I don’t think about that sort of stuff when I am in that fight. Nothing outside the ring matters, there is no emotion. You think about all that stuff afterwards.
‘We have had miscarriages before. It happens. Will we have any more kids?
‘I don’t know if she’s back to normal from that, it was only a few months ago. It takes a lot of getting over.
‘But no more of this morbid stuff now because I’ll break down in tears.’
Paris and Tyson welcomed their seventh child in September last year, and after keeping his name a secret, the couple finally shared that their youngest son is called Prince Rico Paris Fury.
They now share three daughters and four sons, welcoming their eldest child and first daughter, Venezuela Fury, in 2009.
Prince John James followed in 2011, with their brother Prince Tyson Fury II arriving in 2016.
Valencia Amber was born in 2017, with Prince Adonic Amaziah following in 2019 and their youngest child, Athena, arriving in 2021.
Pregnancy loss helpline
For emotional support, you can contact Miscarriage Association’s pregnancy loss helpline on 01924 200799 or email [email protected].
In 2021, Paris opened up about two previous miscarriages she’d suffered during Baby Loss Awareness Week.
‘Even from a young age I always knew I wanted big family – it’s in my bloodline after all as my Granny had eight – and with every baby my confidence as a mum has increased, I’ve got a routine and I know what works for us.
‘I know from the outside people see our big family and assume we’ve never struggled to have children, but as it’s #BabyLossAwarenessWeek I wanted to share a little bit about our story as it hasn’t always been plain sailing,’ she wrote on social media.
She went on: ‘Very sadly we lost two babies which was just devastating to both of us and my heart goes out to anyone who has suffered the same.
‘I write about this in Love & Fury and it’s something I’ll never really get over, but I was lucky I had Tyson and the rest of my family around to support me.
‘It can be a very lonely experience for a lot of people. Thinking of everyone affected this week xx.’