What happened to Tyson Fury's voice? Sparring session changed how it sounded forever
Tyson Fury's voice seemed to change in 2015 with the heavyweight champion revealing what happened to quite literally change his tone
Tyson Fury has already cemented his legacy as one of the greatest heavyweights of all time over the last 10 years, and has the opportunity to strengthen this claim this weekend. The Gypsy King is set to face Oleksandr Usyk this weekend in a heavyweight unification bout in what is seen as Fury's most difficult fight of his career along with his 2015 victory over Wladimir Klitschko - a time where things begun to change for him - in and out of the ring.
After defeating Klitschkho, Fury's voice appeared to change to a raspy-sounding tone - with some believing him to just be pulling another bizarre stunt.
However, his voice would remain the same for years, going from sounding like his brother Hughie Fury to a deeply unique tone - similar to his father's. And while many accused the Gyspy King of putting it on, it was recently revealed that the change had been due to an injury he sustained in a sparring session with light-heavyweight fighter Ty Mitchell back in 2015.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour, Fury said: "It wasn't always like this though, this isn't my original voice. If you go back and look at interviews from like 2010 onwards right up until about 2016, I didn't have this voice. One of my good friends, Ty Mitchell... We were sparring and he hit me in the throat real hard and I developed a blood clot in my throat."
"It messed around with my vocal words so this is why I talk like this now... Some would say it's quite sexy, I've been told."
Fury's voice would remain this way for several years, and while he still talks with a much lower tone than he had previously, his voice has still changed since 2016.
In recent weeks, videos have emerged of Fury's 'old voice' which his wife Paris described as 'soft and delicate' on their Netflix show.
The aforementioned clip had been his first-ever press conference from 2008 after the Carl Froch vs Jean Pascal fight, with Fury clearly talking with a higher pitch.
Fury will return to the ring on Saturday to face Usyk, where bookmakers have essentially made the fight a pick'em - with equal odds for both men to win.
Both are undefeated in their illustrious careers, with Usyk fighting as a heavyweight for just the sixth time after his move up from cruiserweight.