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.
"Some would say it's quite sexy, I've been told."
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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.
"I was supposed to have it removed and I got too afraid.
"I think it sounds better anyway, there's more pain in it."
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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.
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.
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“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.
Topics: Tyson Fury, Celebrity, Boxing, Sport
Jess Battison