Tyson Fury confirms his last fight purse went straight to charity
Tyson Fury has insisted he donated his £7million purse from his heavyweight showdown with Deontay Wilder to charity, as promised pre-fight.
Fury vowed to give away the money ahead of his showdown with WBC champion Wilder in December 2018 after he was shocked by the number of homeless people he saw in Los Angeles, where he was based.
Speaking to members of the LA Fire Department during the promotional tour for his last fight, he promised to donate his entire purse for the homeless and revealed in a recent Q&A session that he had already done so.
'The Gypsy King' confirmed to fans at an 'Evening with Tyson Fury' show in Cardiff in early February that he had kept his promise and given the money to charity.
“I did give away my last purse, but I don’t do charity work for a pat on the back,” the unbeaten fighter said. “I do it to help people but I do not want praise for it. I don’t want to be called a do-gooder.”
Since the beginning of his career, the traveller has always attracted controversy, regularly fined and suspended by the British Boxing Board of Control for his rants and outbursts in public. His huge upset and unforeseen victory over long-standing heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko in 2015 catapulted Fury onto the worldwide stage, but he spiralled downwards into a state of depression and ballooned up to 28stone following drink and drug addiction. His battle with depression and subsequent transformation has now seen him become a figure of hope for many similar sufferers and has been dubbed 'The People's Champ', a complete turnaround from almost four years ago when he returned from Düsseldorf with four World titles in his luggage to a hostile reception from the British media. He has gone from threats from fellow athletes to boycott the Sports Personality of the Year Award in 2016 if his name was nominated to complete disbelief when he didn't win in 2018.
He further wowed the world with a stunning performance over fearsome puncher Deontay Wilder in December, making the unbeaten champion with a frightening KO record look quite ordinary for the full 12 championship rounds. Two knockdowns and a controversial judging panel ruled the fight as a draw between the pair, who are now deep in negotiations to do it all again.
The WBC sanctioned a "direct rematch" between heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury and both fighters have said they wanted the immediate return fight, while Fury and promoter Frank Warren are campaigning for it be held in the UK, likely set for May this year.Reigning WBC titleholder 'The Bronze Bomber' revealed recently, "We still have a bit more to go but the fight is definitely going to happen. It should be announced very, very soon. As of today, everything is 100 per cent ready to go." Read more: http://britishboxingnews.co.uk/blogs/deontay-wilder-says-he-will-fight-anthony-joshua-after-beating-tyson-fury
Fury goaded, "He cannot get any better, I will be 40 or 50 per cent better and his whole team know that. They saw my fat ugly white body and bald head and though I was s**t, but then I 'Roy Jonesed' them and they were f****d!"