Tyson Fury faced a heavyweight veteran in his 19th fight, but didn’t relish seeing his foe take so much punishment.
By 2012, Tyson Fury was well on his way to climbing the ranks as a heavyweight in Britain.
He had won all 18 of his fights thus far and was ranked No. 9 by The Ring magazine.
In his 19th fight, Fury faced a 35-7 boxing veteran who shared the ring with a living legend.
Tyson Fury implored the ref to stop his fight with Vinny Maddalone
Vinny Maddalone was 35-7 in 2012, having lost by third-round KO to Evander Holyfield five years earlier.
Maddalone, despite his losses, was a durable opponent and veteran of the division. Though he was an underdog, Maddalone was expected to give Fury, who has retired five times now, some valuable rounds.
In round five, though, after Maddalone sustained a cut over his eye, the fight was waved off, and Fury, who KO’d Dillian Whyte years later, had secured yet another victory.
‘The Gypsy King’ said after the fight that he had called the ref over, asking him to stop the fight out of compassion for Maddalone.
He said: “I knew it was a matter of time. I actually called the referee over, he was taking some big shots.”
Tyson Fury’s US debut almost ended in disaster
Just two fights after his win over Maddalone, Fury made his US debut in New York, when he faced former cruiserweight Steve Cunningham.
25-5 Cunningham posed Fury, who outclassed Michael Hunter as an amateur, all kinds of problems as the smaller man, and even dropped the Brit in the second round.
Fury, who was Cunningham’s tallest and heaviest opponent, came through adversity to stop the American in the seventh round.
Many believed Fury would lose to the smaller man in Oleksandr Usyk based on this performance.