BBC’s often baffling Sports Personality of the Year award once again found itself under scrutiny for failing to shortlist heavyweight boxer, Tyson Fury, for this year’s award. The shortlist of six sports stars included Harry Kane, Lewis Hamilton, Jimmy Anderson, Geraint Thomas, Dina Asher-Smith, and Lizzy Yarnold. The refusal to recognize Fury did not go down well with some, and for good reason.
Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren, claimed that the British Broadcasting Company’s actions were ‘an absolute joke,’ while his trainer, Ben Davison wrote:
What an opportunity for @BBCSPOTY to do their part in raising awareness for mental health and many other things, to help inspire people. For a man to come back from where he has, while at the same time saving thousands of lives along with inspiring millions. Shame on them.”
Even the controversial TV presenter, Piers Morgan, gave his two cents:
“Tyson Fury not even nominated? What a joke.”
The backlash was certainly justified, given the unthinkable comeback launched by Fury this year. Rather than taking the time to recognize Fury, he was completely snubbed from the shortlist. Aside from proving that a man severely out of shape – and with drug and alcohol problems – can make it back to the summit of heavyweight boxing, the “Gypsy King” also documented his battles with depression and suicidal ideation.
It seemed a real slap in the face for the boxer and his fans, especially given the other nominees’ apparent lack of personality, something that seemed to go over the heads of the general public. Welsh cyclist, Geraint Thomas, won the award after he became the third Brit to win the Tour de France. England footballer Harry Kane and the admittedly excellent Lewis Hamilton, finished in second and third place, respectively.
The others, Jimmy Anderson, Dina Asher-Smith, and Lizzy Yarnold, are pretty much unknown to the general British public, never mind the rest of the world. So, one must ask themselves what Fury did to deserve not being nominated for an award that, by name, credits “personality?”
Unlike the clean cut and straight edge Thomas, Tyson Fury is a big, bad man. He is a heavyweight boxer that looks like something out of a Mad Max film, at times. Although the darling of the gnarlier, more “manly men” in Britain, Ireland, and other parts of the world, the snobbish, elitist BBC would certainly not be rushing to get him through the door.
Unlike Anthony Joshua, the soft-spoken, reformed “nice man” of British heavyweight boxing, Fury is not afraid to speak his mind. While Joshua is allegedly an ex-drug dealer, he smiles, acts politely, and was just awarded an OBE by the British Prince Charles for being an all-round smashing guy. Fury is just not the type of character that the Olympic gold medalist is. For one, he wasn’t afraid to fight WBC champion Deontay Wilder. Joshua is content to avoid the more dangerous fights, but he is what the British public like, and that counts for a lot.
Fury, on the other hand, is as honest and direct as you can get. This type of behavior is not rewarded in British society, especially when it comes to their sportsmen and sportswomen. Being a gypsy with Irish connections is also not going to endear anyone with snooty views to you, either. The ‘right kind’ of personality usually honored at these awards is the quiet, dour type that, ironically, lacks personality. Scottish tennis player and human sleeping tablet, Andy Murray, has won the award three times.
It is difficult to dance around the reasons for the BBC snubbing Fury. He grew up on a gypsy camp, is a devout Catholic, and has admitted to having drug and alcohol problems in the past. He punches people in the head for a living (but so did previous winners Joe Calzaghe, Lennox Lewis, and Barry McGuigan), and has the tendency to not care too much for what “Joe Public” tends to think of him.
Surely, he should have been nominated though? Even the smallest indication of acknowledgment would have gone some way towards showing the public that the blatant classism of the elites displayed in British society was something that still permitted the “riff-raff” having a fair crack of the whip?
Deontay Wilder’s 12-round left hook that landed square on the jaw of Fury was strong enough to demolish an old building. Having bossed the fight until that point – minus a knockdown a little earlier – fans’ hearts were broken at what looked like the end of the fight for the “Gypsy King.” However, it was almost poetic that such a blow could not keep the big man down and he emerged from the canvas like Lazarus.
It was one of the single greatest spectacles in the past few decades of boxing. It ranks up there as one of the greatest testaments to the strength and power of a man who refuses to be beaten, by the heavyweight champion of the world or by life itself. When Fury’s eyes opened and he got himself back to his feet, the Staples Center in Los Angeles gasped at the complete miracle that had bestowed them. If you think this sounds like hyperbole, you obviously didn’t watch the fight.
Wilder went in for the kill, but Fury jabbed away and danced his way out of trouble. When he made it to the final bell, it looked as though he had pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in the history of professional boxing. Unfortunately for Fury, the judges did not see things that way, with one awarding Wilder the win and another marking up the contest as a draw. The fight ended as a split-decision draw and boxing fans shook their heads at yet another robbery in 2018.
Had Fury been awarded the fight, he would have likely faced British boxing’s darling and cash cow, Anthony Joshua. Instead, the WBC would later order a rematch between Wilder and Fury and Joshua will get to knock out another sub-par fighter to the casual fans who know no different.
Fury has campaigned for mental health awareness profusely over the past 12 months. Having served a drugs ban and changed his attitude towards partying and the toils that excessive substance abuse can cause, there is no better person than a professional athlete to show that there is always a way back for those who believe. More than this, he has been frankly honest about his previous shortcomings.
The lineal champion also committed to donating his estimated $10 million purse to the homeless in England. Such an act of kindness hardly got the coverage that it deserved and should have put Fury on that nominations list of the Sports Personality of the Year award. In fact, if anyone is to be awarded anything from the royal family of Britain, Fury should have been the outstanding candidate, surely.
While redemption stories are often celebrated in boxing, many in the general public do not forgive and forget so easily. Fury did make the nominees list in 2015 following his impressive world championship win over Wladimir Klitschko (who had held the division hostage for the best part of 11 years), but was the victim of his tendency to open his mouth before editing the words that were sent down from his brain.
Fury’s devout Christian background and traditional traveler upbringing led to the boxer making very controversial remarks over the years. Almost 45,000 people signed a petition in 2015 to have him removed from the Sports Personality of the Year nominees list following a series of comments that were certainly enough to warrant the heat he attracted as a result.
Over the years Fury has said things like:
“Them three things (abortion, homosexuality and paedophilia) need to be accomplished before the world finishes. That’s what the Bible tells me. “So it may take a while before these three things have to be accomplished but make no mistake them three things must be accomplished before the world finishes. That’s not my opinion it’s what the Bible tells me.”
Regarding Jessica Ennis-Hill, another nominee for the 2015 award, he said:
“She slaps up good, dresses up well. When she’s got a dress on she looks quite fit,” and “A woman’s best place is in the kitchen and on their back.”
Hardly the words of someone desperate to endear themselves to the voting public, it must be said. Perhaps it was little surprise that Andy Murray won the award that year and Fury finished fourth. Among those voting for the award were, of course, many of the same people that would have taken extreme offense to Fury’s perceived incendiary remarks.
Of course, in order to be snubbed this time around, Fury would have had to make it to the list of nominees. Those tasked with creating a list for the general public to vote on included former boxer Barry McGuigan and a number of high-ranking figures in British media. Whatever their reasons, they did not feel that Fury’s actions deserved recognition, even if he did what no else has ever done under a British flag.
Ask any of his British fans to remark about the Manchester-born heavyweight’s heritage and they will be happy to point out that he is British, end of story. Despite his proud Irish traveler roots, he is certainly regarded as a fellow-Brit by those who pay to watch his fights and support him all the way. Yes, Fury has rocked out in Irish garb, once claimed that “all my people are from Ireland,” and is proud of his connections to Hibernia. Yet, this doesn’t matter to those on the island located east to the Emerald Isle.
Unfortunately, many of those who consider themselves to occupy the upper classes in English society will not see Fury in the same way as the Andy Murray’s, Chris Hoy’s, Johnny Wilkinson’s. The same applies to Somali-born Mo Farah, or Irishmen Barry McGuigan and Tony McCoy. Fury is a traveler and is someone that cannot be contained or relied on to stay in their box. He is not content to know his place or refrain from rising above his station.
The key thing here is that the British public was not given the opportunity to vote for Fury as he was not on the list. If he was, it would have been interesting to see just how many of the voters were inspired by his story and were appreciative for all he has done to bring awareness to those currently suffering with substance abuse and mental health problems. Unfortunately, we will never know.
If there is one thing that a country steeped in the traditions of building castles and fighting attackers from foreign lands will know, it is that banging on the Barbican long and loud enough cannot be ignored. Fury is set to challenge Wilder sometime between May and July of 2019 and is tipped to have enough to beat the American this time around, without any shameful decisions hampering his cause.
In 2019, Fury could have the chance to go one step further and bring the WBC title home to Britain. If he achieves this feat, and becomes the first two-time heavyweight champion to emerge from the country, he cannot be ignored this time around.
If Fury beats Wilder, then there is also the possibility that he will fix a date to fight Anthony Joshua later in the year and just before 2019’s Sports Personality of the Year awards. Beating Joshua, the British darling, unifying the division in the process, will pretty much see him handed the award (even if it has many of the awards panelists and snooty elitists reaching for their sick bags). 2019 could be the year of Fury and just might end with his incredible story and magnetic personality celebrated by the general British public.
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