Roman Fury went from 20st jobless ‘mess’ playing Xbox all day to copy brother Tyson and become ‘future champion’ boxer
ONE brother is a Love Island star and the other a champion boxer.
Now Roman Fury is stepping out of Tyson and Tommy’s shadow and is well on his way to becoming a household name.
The 26-year-old, who has little amateur experience, KO’d Bradley Davies in his third pro-fight – and sibling Tyson has given him the seal of approval, calling him a champ of the future.
He is the ninth member of the Fury family to enter the ring – and a PR expert has now tipped him for stardom outside the ring.
Roman was destined to be a rugby league player but switched to boxing after training with Tommy helped him out of a rut when he lost his job during lockdown.
He said: “I used to be six stone heavier than what I am now. I was 20 stone, a real mess.
“Lockdown happened, I had no work, I was eating crap, playing on the Xbox, and I had no life whatsoever.
“Tommy invited me down to train with him, I had a couple of sessions and I started getting into it.
“I trained more and more until it went from training twice a week to six times a week and the weight came off, the confidence grew.
“It’s not just a physical thing, it’s a mental thing as well. It’s turned my life around completely.”
He has dropped even more weight in training and is now 14st 2lb.
And if he ever gives up boxing, Roman could still rake in the cash by following in brother Tommy’s footsteps on reality TV.
He shares the same good looks as Tommy, who is three years younger, but is shaping up to have the boxing prowess of brother Tyson, 35.
Tommy is estimated to be worth £3.2million, according to Sportskeeda, and lives in a £4m Cheshire mansion with fiancee Molly-Mae Hague after they famously met on Love Island.
Roman is no stranger to the villa, having visited Tommy with mum Chantal during the 2019 series.
Talent agent and PR expert Carla Speight told The Sun: “Roman has a lot of work to do to catch up to his brothers, but if he plays his cards right, he could end up having a lucrative career outside boxing.
“Knocking someone out has changed his career path. He’s gone from being not just another Fury fighter to significant.
“His sponsorship opportunities will increase, especially if Tommy and Tyson stand with him.
“Watching videos of him, he doesn’t look at the camera much and seems quite shy, but if he can show more of his personality he will absolutely fly.
“He could easily follow Tommy into reality TV and would be a great choice for something like Big Brother or I’m a Celebrity.”
Roman is the full brother of Tommy, both born to dad John and mum Chantal, while half-brother Tyson was raised by mum Amber.
Roman was just 13 and brother Tommy 11 when John went to prison for trying to gouge out a man’s eye in a brawl at a car auction in 2010.
He was given 11 years for the attack on victim Oathie Sykes, who was left half blind, but was out after four years.
John said he asked his brother Peter to help bring up the boys while he was inside.
He wrote in his autobiography When Fury Takes Over: “I needed somebody to guide them for the rest of their formative years and I turned to my younger brother Peter to bring them up as his own.
“And that’s exactly what he did. He shaped them into decent fighters and took care of them outside the ring. For that I am forever grateful.”
John says that he “often worried” about Roman, who like Tyson suffered from depression.
He wrote: “I often worried about him when he was growing up… once again boxing came to the rescue.
“When Tyson won the heavyweight world title again, this time from Wilder, Roman was hugely inspired. He said, ‘If Tyson can do it, then so can I.’ He shaved his weight down to 14 stone.
“He’s now turned professional and has already won some impressive matches. I’m really proud of how he now has a positive outlook and has settled into life.”
Brother Tyson said of Roman: “He’s an inspiring cruiserweight champion of the future.”
Nervous start
Roman’s first fight came in October 2022 in Doncaster when he beat Ryan Hibbert over four rounds.
He had no amateur experience prior to the bout other than “messing around on the pads”.
He admitted being nervous saying: “The past four weeks since I’ve known about the fight I’ve been nothing but a bag of nerves – I was terrified.
“I had bad dreams and no sleep, but as soon as I got in there, fate took over, I’ve never been as calm in my life. I felt sharp, good and I’m so happy, thanks to God, thank you very much.”
After his win, brother Tyson said: “I’m very, very impressed. Roman’s never had a fight before, amateur or professional, and from what I’ve seen tonight I really like what I’ve seen.”
Roman’s second fight was at York Hall in June when he beat Erik Nazaryan on points.
And at the weekend he showed signs of greatness, KO’ing Bradley Davies in the third round.
Roman told VIP boxing that he “didn’t have much experience”.
He said: “If it’s nothing else it’s a story.
“How many people do you know that jump into it right at the deep end, no experience or nothing, and do well for themselves? But that’s the challenge and I like a challenge.
“I’ve always been messing around on the pads with my dad and my brothers from a young age, but actually sparring and fighting, I don’t have that much experience.”
Roman later said he had “put everything on hold” for his boxing career adding: “It’s like an experiment, I wanna see how far I can go…it’s all about self-belief and I do have a lot of that.”
But despite his success, Roman says he doesn’t want to trade on his family name.
“I don’t want to box on big bills just because I carry the ‘Fury’ name,” he said.
While he might not want to deliberately cash in on his famous brothers, there’s no doubt it will open doors and his future is bright.