An East Lancashire schoolboy has met his hero, Tyson Fury, and even went on a morning run with him.

Presley Pennington, from Burnley, is a fan of the world heavyweight boxing champion and was determined to meet him. 

Presley, 14, said: “I saw on Instagram that he runs down Morecambe sea front most days for his well-being.

“I told my grandma ‘I want to meet Tyson.’ We have a caravan in Morecambe so we decided to try and make it happen.”

 

 

The day before the run, Presley saw the Morecambe-based athlete at a Sainsbury’s in Morecambe.

“The weird thing is, I saw Tyson in his car the day before the run – just out the blue,” said Presley.

“He shook my hand, I got a picture and he gave me a hat which he signed.”

The next day, Presley got up at 6am ready for his run.

He said: “He remembered me. I only ran a little way with him but the adrenaline kept me going! He has such a good personality.”

Tyson has been open about his mental health struggle, both online and in his books.

Presley, who attends Blessed Trinity College in Burnley, said: “His mental health journey has inspired me. He was struggling with bad mental health problems.

“Then he thought of his kids, started training and became the heavyweight champion of the world. I admire that he turned his life around so quickly." 

Presley posted a video of him running with Tyson and gave it to his school to use on their Twitter feed. 

In the video you can hear Presley saying: “Me and Tyson are on a run, aren’t we? Get up mush. Go on lads.”

“All my friends laughed at it. They thought it was great,” he said.

Tyson is set to fight Anthony Joshua in December – and it’s no surprise who Presley is backing.  

He said: “Tyson will absolutely smash him. He is a warrior. I would bet £2 million on Tyson winning if I could, I am that confident.”