Tyson Fury has opened up about a devastating personal tragedy that struck his family just hours before his first fight against Oleksandr Usyk in May 2024. His wife, Paris, suffered a miscarriage at six months pregnant but kept the heartbreaking news from him to avoid affecting his performance.
The Hidden Heartbreak
On the eve of the bout in Saudi Arabia, Paris informed Tyson that she would not be joining him, citing high blood pressure. This immediately raised concerns for the boxer, who sensed something was wrong. Speaking months later, Fury revealed that Paris had lost their eighth child on the Friday of the fight.
"The child that she was having, she lost that on the Friday of the fight, which was pretty s*****," Fury said. "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."
A Difficult Decision
Fury explained that Paris deliberately withheld the news. Despite an offer from Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi's General Entertainment Authority, to provide a private jet and a doctor, Paris declined to travel. Fury said, "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."
He added, "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."
No Excuse for Defeat
Despite the emotional turmoil, Fury refused to use the tragedy as an excuse for his loss to Usyk. "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."
Family Life After the Tragedy
The couple have not had any more children since the miscarriage. They have seven children together: daughters Venezuela, Valencia, and Athena, and sons Prince John James, Prince Tyson II, Prince Adonis Amaziah, and Prince Rico Paris. Recently, they celebrated their eldest daughter Venezuela's marriage at just 16 years old.
Fury, who lost both fights to Usyk, is now preparing for a warm-up bout before a highly anticipated match against Anthony Joshua later this year. Meanwhile, Usyk is set to face Rico Verhoeven on Saturday night in Egypt, a fight available live on DAZN.
