Believe it or not, Tyson Fury was once a soft-spoken giant. But by now you’re probably more used to hearing him with that distinctive ‘husky voice’.
Turns out the Gypsy King suffered a throat injury during a sparring match with his mate, altering the way his vocal cords sound.
Speaking on YouTube series The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, he said: "It wasn't always like this though, this isn't my original voice.
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"If you go back at look at interviews from like 2010 onwards right up until about 2016, I didn't have this voice," the dad-of-seven explains.
"One of my good friends, Ty Mitchell. We were sparring and he hit me in the throat real hard and I developed a blood clot in me throat.
"It messed around with my vocal words so this is why I talk like this now.
"So it sounds just like my dad. I can even hear it myself, we've both got the husky voice.
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"Some would say it's quite sexy, I've been told."
Speaking to BBC Radio 1 back in 2019, Fury said he prefers his husky voice.
He explained: "I got punched in the throat in 2015 and it left me with a blood clot in the throat. So it causes me to talk like this.
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"I was supposed to have it removed and I got too afraid.
"I think it sounds better anyway, there's more pain in it."
With an unbeaten record in 33 fights, Fury is set to fight Francis Ngannou tonight (28 October) in what’s been titled the ‘Battle of the Baddest’.
It’s been rumoured for a while that the ‘battle’ was set to be an exhibition – meaning it wouldn’t feature on the professional records of either fighter.
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However, that now seems to have changed.
It’s been reported that the fight between Fury and Ngannou will be a professional fight.
The fight is listed on BoxRec – who are a bit of an oracle on such matters – and journalist Michael Benson tweeted: “Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou has been officially sanctioned by the BBBofC as a professional fight, so is now listed on BoxRec and will go on both fighters’ official records.”
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Fans are divided on the merits of this, as one wrote: “Thats interesting. Imagine Ngannou does the unthinkable.”
The Gypsy King is the favourite to win though but didn’t completely rule out his opponent in a confident chat.
On the MMA Hour podcast, Fury said: “I think he's about level to the other heavyweights that I've fought,
“Big strong heavyweight with a puncher's chance.
“That's all they ever are to me, big strong guys with a puncher's chance, I've never really met anybody who can outskill me in boxing or even come close to matching my skill.
“But all heavyweights have a puncher's chance, he always has that, but whoever I would be fighting I would be 100 per cent confident and call him a bum and a sausage and he ain't worth a carrot and he's going to get knocked out.
“So yeah, there's nothing different here.”
The fight will take place this evening on TNT Sport Box Office, featuring 10 three-minute rounds with the main ringwalks set to take place at around 10:40pm UK time tonight, dependent on the lengths of the undercard matches.
TNT Sports Box Office is broadcasting the event live in the UK via pay-per-view for £21.95.
Featured Image Credit: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images/BT SportTopics: Tyson Fury, Celebrity, Boxing, Sport