British heavyweight Tyson Fury says his wife had a miscarriage on the eve of his world title defeat by Oleksandr Usyk, but he was not told the news until he returned home to Morecambe.
Fury’s wife Paris, who was six months pregnant with their eighth child, had told her husband she could not join him for the bout in Saudi Arabia because of high blood pressure.
Speaking on Wednesday ahead of his rematch with the Ukrainian world champion on 21 December, Fury said he feared the worst when he learned Paris would not be ringside in Riyadh.
“The one that she was having, she lost on the Friday of the fight,” said Fury.
“She was six months pregnant. To go through that on your own isn’t good.
“I could not be there for her in that moment and that’s tough for me.
“When she said she couldn’t come over, I knew there was a problem.”
He added: “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.”
Usyk claimed Fury’s WBC title with victory by split decision but the Briton, who still believes he won the fight, says his personal tragedy had no bearing on his performance.
“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,” added Fury,
“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.”
