LONDON (Reuters) – Tyson Fury emerged unscathed from a turbulent fight week to cement his place among the greats of heavyweight boxing with a stunning TKO win over Dillian Whyte in what “The Gypsy King” said would be his final bout.
Fury had to face a barrage of questions about his relationship with Daniel Kinahan, his former advisor and one of three men named as leaders of the Kinahan organised crime gang recently sanctioned by U.S. authorities.
The British boxer engaged in a number of combative interviews in the lead-up to his bout with Whyte, saying Kinahan’s situation was none of his business and that he had nothing to do with the Irishman.
All that was forgotten on Saturday as Fury entered the ring and unloaded a sixth-round uppercut that left Whyte unable to continue in the opinion of the referee. The vast majority of the Wembley Stadium crowd roared their approval as Fury went from zero to hero again.
“I cannot believe that my 94,000 countrymen and women come here tonight to see me perform. I just want to say, from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much to every single person who bought a ticket here tonight, or stayed up late to watch on TV,” Fury said.
“Dillian Whyte is a warrior and I believe Dillian will be a world champion, but tonight he met a great in the sport and one of the greatest heavyweights of all times, and unfortunately for Dillian Whyte, he had to face me tonight.”
Fury said that he would be sticking to his promise to his wife to retire, with promoter Frank Warren backing the 33-year-old’s decision to call it quits.
“If it was going to be the last fight, it’ll be the last fight. That’s his decision, he’s the guy getting in the ring. And if it is his last fight he has gone out on such a high,” Warren said.
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor; editing by Clare Fallon)
