TYSON FURY’S family has once again borne the brutal brunt of his boxing career.
His wife Paris and their seven children live a life of magnificent luxury thanks to the 36-year-old’s fighting skills.
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But back in May — just days before his original clash with Oleksandr Usyk — all that was suddenly irrelevant when they lost their son six months into pregnancy.
When brave Paris could not fly in for her man’s Saudi megafight, he knew tragedy had struck.
But she withheld the news from the emotionally vulnerable 6ft 9in star until he was home.
Fury refused to use the awful loss as an excuse for his split-decision defeat to the Ukrainian.
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And as soon as the summer was over, he flew out to Malta for a 12-week camp where he trained like a brute and supposedly cut off all contact from his family.
When Paris and eldest son Prince arrived in Riyadh and took their places in the second row at Thursday’s press conference, Fury ignored his childhood sweetheart.
There was no gushing reunion kiss or cuddle, there was barely even any eye contact.
When asked how it felt leaving his brood behind after such a traumatic experience, Fury replied: “Difficult.
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“It’s difficult timing but, you know, life is difficult and this fight is even harder.
“So I have got to give myself the best opportunity that I can to get the victory.
“I won’t see Paris before the fight, not until after the fight.
“I’m fully focused and I don’t want my mind changing or taking off from where I am in fight mode and going into husband mode and all of that.
“In all my career of 36 fights, she’s only missed three of them.
“The first was when she was having our first child, Venezuela, on the same night as I boxed in Dublin years ago.
“Then there was another at The O2. And the other one was the last Usyk fight.
“This time, she’s coming but I won’t be seeing her, not until after the fight.”
It feels like a Spartan siege mentality we have never seen the likes of before — and all, apparently, to keep the Morecambe roof over their heads and Christmas presents under this year’s tree.
With the £300million the Gypsy King has banked from boxing alone — before you factor in his Netflix, book and sponsorship deals — his claims that back-to-back defeats to Usyk, 37, could lead to an eviction notice are fanciful.
But there’s a danger that — after decades of bravado — Fury could be left emotionally bankrupt by another loss, with the kids having to cope with the impact of that.
Fury said: “The kids are used to Daddy going away.
“Daddy’s got to do his job and pay the bills.
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“And if Daddy doesn’t do that, then the house gets repossessed, unfortunately.
“If you don’t pay your bills, no matter how rich you are, you get repossessed, don’t you?”
While Fury is worried about the mortgage, there is a risk Usyk has been living in his head rent-free.
Trainer Andy Lee told SunSport that he won’t know the psychological damage the Usyk defeat has taken on his charge until the first bell.
Fury could have had his soul snatched and be a broken fighter by the manner of that first schooling.
On the other hand, he might be re-energised, laser-focused and harnessing the challenger mindset every fighter thrives on.
Even Fury himself does not seem to really know the answer.
He said: “Sometimes you think about the fight — it would be a lie to say you don’t.
“I don’t really feel nervous but . . . it’s not nerves for the fight.
“Because obviously I’ve had a lot of fights, I’m not bothered about anybody.
“But you feel like you’re nervous whether you’re going to perform to your best ability or not. Does that make sense?
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“It’s not like a pressure of, ‘Oh, I’ve got to go for a fight now’. It’s something I’ve always done, amateur and professional.
“But you feel like, ‘I need to be the best I can be.’
“Hopefully you’re going to be good, do you know what I mean?”
“A lot of people, when they come to training camp, everybody thinks the job’s done.
“But fight week is the most important time of your training because during camp you can make a mistake.
“You can have a late night, you cannot sleep one night, whatever. And it’s fine.
“But make those mistakes in fight week — you go around too many people and catch a cold.
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“You get an illness, whatever, even on the day before — and it can all be finished.”
Fury’s overbearing dad John — who headbutted a member of Team Usyk in the build-up to May’s clash and confused his son’s in-fight breaks with uneducated instructions — has been exiled from the corner.
But the Gypsy King has taken clearer orders this time from an arguably more mature family member.
Legends of the boxing world have expressed their offerings on the best approach to the fight.
But a tiny little terror — named after an ancient Greek icon more famous for love than war — has provided the most ruthless guidance.
Fury explained: “My Adonis, that’s my second-youngest son, he wants me to smash Usyk’s face right in.
“He’s only five. He wants me to severely smash it in.”
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