Gloves Off: Tyson Fury Autobiography

Product Information

I wish to thank Ad Lib Publishers for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Tyson's book reveals surprising and personal new sides to his character: he opens up about his fairy-tale romance with beloved wife Paris, and their down-to-earth life raising six beautiful children. He describes how his Traveller upbringing forged him, and how his fighting family, including dad John and his brothers, have sustained him. I took a real man on who was willing to step up to the challenge," he added. "If they've got something to say about it, I'm standing here.He goes on to Tyson's family life, his beliefs, his failures, his successes, and his will to keep in fighting. The best and most used manifestation of this is his seeming return from the dead raise in the 12th round against arguably the hardest hitter currently in the heavyweight division.

Gloves Off is not a case of bare-fisted self-exposure, but instead a carefully edited version of events. There is no mention, for example, of Daniel Kinahan, the alleged Irish gangster based in Dubai, whom Fury publicly thanked in 2020 for his work as a boxing promoter. And when Fury refers to his father being sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2011 (he served four), he merely says that it was “for getting involved in a fight”, which makes it sound like a spot of fisticuffs. In fact, John Fury gouged a man’s eye out, leaving him half-blind. Like all the greatest stories, though, there is redemption and Tyson defies all the odds and literally drags himself to his feet. 10 million people around the globe watched Fury fight Wilder in the biggest fight of the boxing calendar. Speaking candidly about his struggles with mental health, this is Tyson Fury as you have never seen him before. Tyson’s book was crammed with knowledge, care and honesty from his wins with Wladimir Klitschko and Deontay Wilder to his personal life and of course Mental Health. This could have been a great opportunity to clear the air. It seems the story of his hiatus and return seems to be so compelling that the public does not want to ask the hard questions and Fury seems to be in no rush to answer. Sometimes, the whole “Gypsy King” showman drama – being carried to the ring on a throne in one of the Wilder fights – may occlude Fury’s genuinely impressive achievements in the ring. The man himself says it’s just an act, designed to maximise attention and therefore viewers and profit. Perhaps, but this is a guy who refers to himself in the third person and it’s just possible that the act has taken up more permanent residence in his personality. Larger than life is all very well for the length of a boxing promotion, but it can soon become tiring in life.

Diaries & Calendars

The book doesn't delve too deeply into any one topic, especially Tyson's personal life. After starting off with his win over Deonte Wilder to recapture the heavyweight title in February 2020, the reader will learn a little about Fury's upbringing, his rise in boxing in the British and Irish theatres and his eventual success in obtaining the title. Along the way, Fury had many ups and downs. Some of these were unforeseen circumstances, some of them were of his own making. These are not covered in depth throughout the book, simply captured in the text. Having little knowledge about Fury or his career, I was hoping for a deeper dive into his career and his life, but this was a decent introduction to the man. Readers who have followed his career closely or are passionate boxing fans of the current state of the sport will most likely know all of this information already. Which leads us to the retirement question. Fury writes perceptively of past fighters who have hung on too long, always promising themselves that it will be after the next fight, and then the next one after that, that they will hang up their gloves. By the end of the book, as he surveys the potential contenders, he appears indistinguishable from all those predecessors who didn’t know when to say goodbye. Can he walk away from the spotlight, the discipline and the glory? What will come afterwards, just living at home with his beloved wife, Paris, and their six children? He says he’ll be happy to walk the dogs. In the meantime, he’ll be fighting British heavyweight Derek Chisora (for the third time) on Saturday 3 December. The dogs, it seems, can wait. His most famous victory came in 2015, when he stunned longtime champion Wladimir Klitschko. Fury won the WBA, IBF, IBO and WBO world heavyweight titles. A truly great book. I always make how good an autobiography is if I feel I become a bigger fan of the person after I finished the book than I was when I started the book. In the case of this book, I was that was done by the time I finished the introduction. One thing that Fury will never be accused of is being boring, as the book is filled with many quotes, controversies and stories from Fury's press conferences and pre-fight publicity appearances. Even more than his actual fights, these make the best and most entertaining parts of the book as a reader will learn more about Fury as the boxer, the publicity machine and even a little of his private life.

This book was a great bend of fun and misery with Tyson going into detail of some of his antics he has carried out during his time in boxing and at times it lead me to laughing to myself reminiscing on his funny moments( the Batman costume is my personal favourite and also the sauna battle with Wlad). Fury notes that growing up he was a quiet lad by nature and that he almost created this larger than life character to gain more mainstream media to help progress his career which is common in boxing as people need to care to come see you. His honesty of the shady dealing and politics of the boxing world was an interesting read I had never thought of - or was aware of - before. Tyson described it in an interesting yet easy to understand way for a newbie like myself in the world of boxing. While the title of "heavyweight boxing champion of the world" doesn't have quite the same luster today as it did in previous decades, it is still considered an honor to be part of that linear history. The current holder of the title, Tyson Fury, is the subject of this biography by Nigel Cawthorne. A boxing phenomenon...the anarchic and enormous sports star may prove to be the last of the boxing greats' - John Sutherland, The Times I especially liked hearing of his Irish and Traveller roots and what he liked and disliked in the Traveller community.

So, I decided to dive into the world of Tyson Fury's autobiography, "Gloves Off." Now, let's be clear, I'm about as intimidating as a fluffy bunny, so I thought, "Why not get a taste of the boxing champion's life without actually taking any punches?" Charting his early years, darkest moments and return to glory, ‘Behind the Mask’ is already a must-read for any boxing fan.

I found the book jumped about in time a little bit and had hoped for more on his family life, such as his feelings at the arrival of each new child. He writes of his devastation at the babies sadly lost but doesn’t contrast that with the utter joy of the ones who came after. He was forced to vacate the belts because of issues with drugs, alcohol and mental health. Fury did not fight again for more than two years. As soon as I opened the book, I felt like I'd entered the boxing ring of storytelling. Tyson Fury doesn't pull any punches, except in this case, the punches are hilarious anecdotes and some really questionable fashion choices. I mean, who knew that a boxer could be so funny? I was half-expecting the book to come with a warning: "May cause uncontrollable laughter."He showed not only his battles within the ring but outside of it too. Such honesty about Mental Health is desperately needed in todays world and hearing it from the heavy weight champion of the world is sure to help rid the stigma surrounding it. Especially the need to talk it about which Tyson echoes in his book. This empowerment is so influential and helpful for so many people old or young. This is not about Usyk or any other boxers. It's about me and him doing combat and there is no more to it. All these boxers, they had their chances over the last nine months to do a deal with me, they didn't so we've moved on and took a real man who is willing to challenge himself," Fury said. Tyson Fury is the undefeated lineal heavyweight champion of the world. Born and raised in Manchester, Fury weighed just 1lb at birth after being born three months premature. His story detailing his humble upbringings right from his birth was a welcome read, drawing me into the life of the Gypsy King. He moved from each part of his life beautifully and ensured everything flowed well. That is when I came across Tyson Fury's struggle with depression. You always expect people in the sports or entertainment field to be super secure about their lives and be happy. However, what we fail to understand is that no matter how rich or poor you are, how successful or unsuccessful you are, depression can hit you at any point in your life and is something which needs to be taken seriously. In a world, where people (especially men) are suppose to just brush things aside and move on with life, reading this heartfelt tale of depression from one of the best boxers in the world was very refreshing.