Boxing's weight of expectation: not every king of the ring is sculpted

Tyson Fury is svelte compared to four other men who fought for - and in two instances, won - the world heavyweight title

Andy Ruiz Jr. on his way to a unanimous decision win over Luis Ortiz during a WBC world heavyweight title eliminator in Los Angeles.

TYSON Fury, whose fight against Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world has now been rescheduled for May 18th, would be an anomaly under most circumstances. His thought processes are – shall we say – different. And in today’s world of sculpted elite athletes, his body type runs against the norm.

Fury is 6ft 9in tall and has fought at weights as high as 277lbs. The flesh around his waist jiggles when he is in combat. Usyk refers to him as “greedy belly”. But Fury is svelte compared with four men who fought for (and in two instances, won) the heavyweight title. So let’s put the body-shamers to shame and take a walk down memory lane.