Tyson Fury's real name and reason Soccer Aid star doesn't go by alternative
Rumours have abounded over the years that Tyson Fury isn't the boxing legend and Soccer Aid manager's real name. And those rumours have been fuelled by two of his biggest domestic rivals, Dillian Whyte and Anthony Joshua.
Fury and Whyte fought at Wembley in 2022, with the Gypsy King scoring a sixth-round knockout in front of 90,000 fans to retain his world titles. The following year, Whyte took a verbal shot at Fury by claiming his name was 'Luke', not Tyson.
"My real name is Dillian. I know his real name is Luke,' he told The Sun. "He changed it to Tyson to make himself sound harder. People can have a little look around on the internet and see for themselves.
'In boxing, the name Tyson is a lot more sellable than Luke. A lot of what Tyson does and says is a game, you can never take anything he says seriously or at face value. How can you trust a man who doesn't even use his own name?"
On the same theme, Joshua weighed in as exhaustive talks over arranging their long-awaited grudge match continued. During a social media rant in 2021, Joshua aired his frustration by posting: 'The fight was signed! UNDISPUTED. Bare knuckle? You're a good kid, don't play with me Luke! I'll slap your bald head & you'll do nothing! Waste man."
However, claims that Fury's first name isn't really Tyson are unfounded, with boxing statistics site BoxRec and Companies House both listing Fury's middle name as 'Luke' rather than his forename. According to Fury himself and his father, John, he was named after Mike Tyson, having fought for his place in the world after being born eight weeks premature.
Speaking to Fight Hub TV last year on the origins of his name, Fury said: "I was born eight weeks premature and I died three times when I was a baby and I weighed in at one pound in weight.
"My dad was a huge boxing fan and he was also a professional boxer, so he called me after his greatest ever fighter, Mike. He called me Tyson, it was my dad's favourite fighter. Mike Tyson's heyday was in 1988 [the year Fury was born] - very fitting that I should go on to be the heavyweight champion of the world.'
After announcing his boxing retirement in January, shortly after his second defeat to Oleksandr Usyk, Fury's focus is currently on football as he prepares to joint-manage England with Wayne Rooney against the World XI at Soccer Aid on Sunday.
Speaking ahead of the Old Trafford charity match, the Gypsy King said: 'I might put a bit of the old boxing side of it into the footballers, and see if we can make them a little bit tougher, a little bit fitter.
'Some of these guys are getting on a bit, whip them back into shape [with] body sparring, heavy bag drills, pad work, I can think of a lot of stuff.'
The former heavyweight world champion said he was 'keen to get a victory' in the game, which raises money for children's aid charity Unicef, adding he was 'coming here to put pressure on these lads to win'.
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