In a recent interview Fury compared himself to Achilles and Usyk to Hector (and this is epic as ****) but there is actually a far better comparison to be found in Arthurian legend. It has been bothering me recently as I read through Thomas' Mallory's version of the tales of King Arthur how analogous the story of Arthur and Lancelot is to the story of Fury and Usyk. To the point where Fury and Usyk appear as avatars of the two legendary figures as they in turn represent deeper archetypal heroes. Below are the parallels I have found, not including the fact that Fury is English and his nickname is "The Gypsy King" although those are also important. 1) Arthur is conceived as the ******* son of Uther and Igraine with the help of Merlin's magic. - Tyson is not a ******* as such but John is a womanizer who has sired children by at least two women and perhaps more. Tyson almost died at birth but was only kept alive by similarly miraculous medical technology. 2) Arthur is estranged from his true father. - Tyson is not estranged in the biological sense but in the boxing sense he has put fair distance between himself and his father and his uncle Peter. 3) Arthur is believed to be low-born and so appears on the scene as an underdog not seen as the rightful heir to the throne when he draws the sword from the stone. - Fury is dismissed as not having much chance against the previous king of the division Wlad but nonetheless defeats him, seemingly with the same ease with which Arthur is described as having drawn the sword, and his victory is still today derided by those who swear by Fury ducking the rematch with Wlad. In the story of Arthur non-believers similarly make Arthur redraw the sword numerous times before accepting him, but his most loyal knights, such as Sir Kay, believe him at the first time of asking. 4) Arthur is not the perfect knight. He is a great warrior, but not the most skilled, he is also moral but not perfectly so. He shags his own sister for a start(!) albeit unknowingly. He is also a jealous king as we will come to when we talk about Usyk/Lance. - Similarly Tyson is greatly skilled but not rated as highly as Usyk. He is also on one level devoutly Christian but also clearly mentally unstable, hypocritical, and prone to vice which is well documented. 5) Lancelot on the other hand is introduced as the most skilled and most noble knight. - The perception of Usyk is broadly similar, at least relative to Tyson. He is seen as a consumate professional, a master of his craft, a polite man, a moral man, with a family at home who we believe he cares deeply about. Most fight fans, even those who believe Fury will win, generally believe Usyk is the more skilled boxer, at least in the conventional sense. 6) When Arthur meets Lancelot for the first time he is a barrier to Arthur who initially sends some of his knights to defeat Lancelot for him in single-combat and only fights Lancelot himself once they have been defeated. - Usyk before facing Fury has had to defeat four elite-level British fighters in quick succession: Bellew, Chisora, Joshua, Dubois. This also speaks to Fury's stalling/ducking of Usyk, allowing other fighters to wear-out and age Usyk before having to face him himself. Fury has even said "If he defeats me he has battered his way through all of Britain and we can't allow that." or words to that effect. 7) Arthur grows jealous of Lancelot when Lancelot, despite his efforts to the contrary, wins the heart of Guenivere, Arthur's wife. He does this by being basically the more chivalrous knight. - Fury I think similarly struggles to gain the mental edge over Usyk because on some level there is a deep admiration for Usyk. There's a strong chance in mind that Usyk is in many ways the fighter Fury wishes he could be; deeply traditional, religious, and skilled, but he can't be because he struggles too much with his various vices. Perhaps there is jealousy there as well. "But what happens when Arthur faces Lancelot!?!" I hear you ask. 8) Lancelot defeats Arthur but then Arthur calls upon the (pagan) powers of Excalibur to defeat Lancelot, essentially cheating, which then fills Arthur with regret. - Fury is a fighter known, portentously, for his use of the "dark arts" in the ring whereby he will bend the rules to achieve victory. He is also of Irish descent which links him to a kind of Gaelic "old world". Maybe I'm reaching, but in the modern context is the equivalent of the Christian hero Arthur using the pagan tool Excalibur to defeat Lancelot, Tyson Fury literally employing "gypsy magic" to defeat Usyk? Fury has also expressed his desire that the fight be fair, and he wants a "proper fight" not decided by any "bull****" and if Usyk slips he will say "come stand back up let's dance". Could this potentially foreshadow his regret if he does resort to "dark arts"? So how is this prophecy fulfilled? I can see a couple of ways in which these parallels can continue and we can have the poetic ending of legend. 1) Fury loses the first fight but then uses gypsy magic to win the rematch. 2) Fury is losing in the early stages of the first fight but then employs gypsy magic to win a controversial points decision down the stretch. No rematch. Fury and Usyk then have to become best friends, specifically Usyk must swear fealty to the Gypsy King, true lord of the division. Usyk must then shag Paris Fury at some point in the future, ultimately severing their relationship temporarily before they are reunited for the last battle against Fury's ******* son (Moses Itauma) before they die and catch a first-class ticket to AVALON. Thoughts?
