Tyson Fury is not just a two-time world champion heavy-weight boxer; he’s a renaissance man, an absolute gift to the fight game. He’s got the charm and the talent to be a compelling commentator, ring-side announcer, or even a promoter. But the fact that he is the aptly named the champion of boxing’s most lucrative and glamorous weight class just makes it all even more special.
The tall, bald “Gypsy King”, was born to an Irish Traveler mother in Manchester, England, so the name is well deserved; Irish Travelers have a long and distinguished history of bare-knuckle boxing. There is nothing lightweight at all about this British-Irish heavyweight champion. And Tyson Fury proved it once and for all, as he stormed MGM’s Hakkasan Nightclub recently, savoring his absolute destruction of Deontay Wilder at MGM’s Grand Garden.
Fury and Crew Storm the Hakkasan
Fury and a 50-strong party posse blew into the Hakkasan shortly after 1 a.m., as the night club action was in full swing. He sported the iconic “My Gypsy King suit!” he wore at the post-fight news conference; that’s the suit splattered with pictures of himself with his fighting fists raised.
The Hakkasan’s cocktail waitresses held aloft flashing LED signs that spelled out TYSON FURY as the newly-crowned World Boxing Council champion plowed into the DJ booth manned by DJ superstar Steve Aoki, to the tuned of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline.”
One marquee sign reading, “THE KING HA S RETURNED” had the “S” knocked askew, from all the shoving.
Around the club, other luminaries of the sports world joined in the celebration. Kansas City Chiefs teammates Travis Kelce and Pat Mahomes held court at their own VIP table, and former One Direction singer Liam Payne also joined in the tomfoolery.
Fury Entertains the Masses
“Who’s ready for an F’ing party!?” Fury, draped in a Union Jack flag, shouted to the adoring masses.
“Before we start, I’d like to sing a little diddly for everybody!” Tyson then belted out, rather oddly, the children’s World War II song, “Ten German Bombers.” The song starts with, “There were three Bronze Bombers in the air!” Tyson then twists the lyrics, “Then the Gypsy King from Britain shot them down!” Bronze Bomber is Deontay Wilder’s famous nickname.
The Gypsy King and Aoki would later spin Don McLean’s “American Pie,” the same song the flamboyant Mr. Fury sang from the ring after demolishing Deontay Wilder. Within a few hours, #AmericanPie was trending with boxing fans across Twitter.
Tyson Fury could have been any old 6-foot-9 inch, 273-pound bloke in the mood to party. However, he’s the World Boxing Counsel heavy-weight champ. The truth is, that night, as well as the nightclub, belonged to a conquering hero.
Who Else is Working It in Vegas
Bret Michaels, the longtime Poison frontman, played a free show at the Fremont Street Experience recently. Michaels was the headliner at the weekend’s NASCAR RaceJam blowout, which drew a crowd of 12,000 to the 3rd Street Stage between the D Las Vegas and the Four Queens.
His noggin wrapped in his iconic bandanna, Michaels performed “Every Rose Has its Thorn” and “Nothin’ but a Good Time” from his Poison days. He also belted out a decent cover of the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s “Give It Away.” The party celebrated the 17th anniversary of RaceJam at the Fremont Street Experience.
Sideshow Freak
John Shaw, a sideshow performer at Zak Bagans’ The Haunted Museum, is off to Rome the last week of March to film a segment for the new Guinness World Records TV show. Shaw will attempt to break the record for drilling a record number of drill bits into and out of his nose in one minute or less.
Surprisingly, there is a Guinness designation for this bizarre record. It’s a brand new category, so Shaw is drilling into virgin territory. His drill-bit into the nose performance recently caused a woman to faint at the Haunted Museum; while not a world record, that is an indication of the penetrating power of Shaw’s performance.
So far, he’s accomplished 30 passes, by turning on the drill and putting the bit in his nose. But that is just practice; Shaw brags that he can exponentially increase that number of passes once the Guinness clock is ticking.
Old School Vegas
Sometimes, you’ll hear denizens of Sin City complaining that there aren’t enough midnight shows in Vegas. But don’t complain, because David Perrico’s Pop String Orchestra will be playing no-cover, midnight shows at the Westgate Cabaret.
This is real, vintage-Vegas brought to you by our friends at Westgate. They plan to roll up the cabaret’s retractable doors to allow the mellow music to fill the casino floor. The clever plan is to recreate the big-band scene Sin City became known for, back in the Rat Pack days. We’ll see if there’s still an appetite today for that type of thing in the 21sr Century. The show starts February 29, then through March 6-7, and March 13-14. The doors open at 11:15 p.m, so don’t be late!
