British heavyweight is intent on setting the record straight after his defeat in May but this showdown goes far beyond boxing

This has been a year like no other for Tyson Fury. He has again earned vast fortunes but, as he prepares to climb into the ring to once more face Oleksandr Usyk in the early hours of Sunday morning in Riyadh, 2024 has until now been defined most clearly by loss. In May, Fury endured the first defeat of a professional career which began 16 years ago this month. Usyk won a split decision over him to become the first undisputed world heavyweight champion this century.

Far more significantly, and in a devastating personal tragedy, Paris Fury suffered a miscarriage the day before the fight. When a visibly moved Fury revealed the news to a few of us in October he urged us not to imply this was a reason for his defeat: “I am not ­making excuses but she was six months pregnant. It’s not like a small miscarriage at the beginning. You have to physically give birth to a dead child, on your own, while your husband is in a foreign country.”