Peter Fury is the heavyweight champ’s uncle and has been hailed as the “guardian angel” who tamed the 6ft 9ins star’s fiery personality.
They are such a tight unit that Tyson, 27, would give up his world titles if his uncle ever abandoned his corner.
Big-hitting Tyson says: “If I wasn’t with Peter, I wouldn’t be in boxing. I wouldn’t train with anyone else.”
But a Sunday People investigation reveals how the 47-year-old trainer once built an extensive illegal empire at the heart of the gangland drugs scene in the North West of England.
In contrast to the sweat-stained gym in Lancashire where he hones Tyson’s skills, Peter enjoys a life of luxury in the millionaire playgrounds of the French Riviera.
He owns a Cannes villa and last month posted a Twitter picture of him standing by a black McLaren 570S Coupe sports car, which cost upwards of £144,000.
Giving a thumbs up, he wrote: “Wonder who’s just bought this super machine?”
The perma-tanned trainer is known for his love of Ferraris and Porsches and has the personalised plate PPF1.
Peter, who is credited with masterminding Fury’s sensational triumph over Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko in November, is a convicted drugs baron who stalked Manchester’s notorious underworld for decades.
Although he has been forced to pay back his ill-gotten gains following his convictions – handing over the best part of £1million to UK authorities.
Born into a family of travellers, Peter built his stronghold in Stockport, Greater Manchester, where he oversaw the dealing of the potentially lethal drug amphetamine.
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He was jailed for ten years in 1995 for possession and intent to supply – only to continue orchestrating his business from behind bars.
In 2008 he got another two years for drug-related money laundering.
Four years ago a court ordered him to pay back the assets and funds he had hidden from the court.
He had set up his drugs business in an industrial unit in rural Helmshore. Peter imported 66 per cent pure amphetamine from Belgium, cut it, then distributed it around the north.
He bought a Porsche 911 for £63,000 cash while still living in a caravan.
A court heard that Peter Fury was a man of “considerable intelligence” who had set up a complex business network using 12 different names and accounts in America, Jersey, the Isle of Man, Spain, Belgium and Ireland.
Throughout, he continued to insist that he made his money by car dealing, boxing and bare knuckle fighting.
Steve Baldwin, regional head of investigations for the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), warned at the time: “SOCA is determined to strip criminals of their lifestyle.
“Convicted traffickers should take this as a hard lesson. Hiding criminal assets does not put it beyond reach. It’s time to hand back the illicit profits.”
Peter now vehemently insists he has gone straight and that his current wealth is from legitimate business. He has said: “I’ve just finished paying nearly a million quid to the Government.
“Now I have to show people that I don’t get into anything. I’m a recluse, really. The police have a lot of informants and intelligence, so they know I’m not active in anything. I’m happy with that.”
He claims training Tyson and his own son Hughie – an exciting heavyweight prospect – has helped him sort out his life and given him fresh focus.
Tyson was a controversial entry in the Sports Personality of the Year Awards after making a series of homophobic and sexist comments and threatening journalist Oliver Holt.
More than 140,000 signed a petition demanding he be removed from the shortlist but the BBC stood firm.
Tyson says he and his uncle are a great team, adding: “We have been big influences in each other’s lives.
“Without Peter, I wouldn’t be in this position today and without me, he wouldn’t be either. We have been like guardian angels for each other.
"It works and we are a close unit.”
Trouble outside the ring is no stranger to the Fury family. Tyson’s home was petrol bombed just days before a fight last February.
Two lit bombs were placed on the bonnets of cars in the driveway of his modest bungalow in Heysham, Lancs.
One exploded, destroying his £12,000 VW Passat, but the other, on a BMW estate, failed to ignite.
The £150,000 house was empty as the fighter, wife Paris, 25, and their daughter Venezuela, five, and son Prince, three, were at his uncle’s French training base. He has now moved to a more secure home.
Tyson’s dad John, 51, was jailed for gouging the eye of a former friend at a car auction over a 12-year feud triggered by a row over a bottle of beer.
John declared himself the toughest man in Britain before plunging his fingers into Oathie Sykes’ eye socket, leaving him half blind.
John begged Manchester Crown Court for mercy, saying: “I’m worried about my son. His boxing career is on the line.”
He got 11 years but was released early and had to get special permission to leave the country to watch his son’s title fight in Dusseldorf in November.
Five months after the petrol bombing, Tyson’s uncle Hughie, 50, died after a bizarre accident while he was unhitching a caravan.
The traveller’s inquest heard he suffered head injuries, a broken arm and broken shinbone after the caravan tumbled on him in Manchester.
But after his leg was put in a cast he left hospital without telling doctors and without collecting anti-blood clotting medication.
A week later, he went back in agony and had to undergo emergency surgery.
Tyson pulled out of a fight to be by his uncle’s side. After two months in intensive care Hughie died from a blood clot.
Given all that has gone on around him, Peter Fury claims he was sucked into the criminal underworld.
He said: “I was wild when I was younger. I’d see someone with a nice pair of trainers on and want to have a fight with them. Then anyone who wanted protection would come to me because I was seen as a tough young fella.
“One thing led to another. I went from looking after people, to looking after areas to looking after cities.”
But he claims his time in prison changed him for the better. He said: “There’s a life down there that you don’t want to see — that’s where you are in prison.
“You’re in hell on earth. That man sat next to you can easily put a knife through your neck because they’re in for life and are in despair with nothing to lose.
“People have no idea what it’s like. Going inside made me realise what life was about and what I was missing.
“They say bad things can turn into good things. Unless you’ve had that experience, you don’t realise how good life can be.”
Peter was ordered to pay back his ill-gotten gains or face another four years behind bars – and then still repay the full amount on his release.
A spokesman for the National Crime Agency said: “Peter Fury paid the full amount back to the court and complied with an order requiring him to submit all his financial details for nine years.”
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