BACK in July last year boxer Tyson Fury was spotted taking a leisurely jog along the seafront, standing out like a sore thumb due to his 6ft 9in frame.

Now he is once again a world champion, having dethroned defending champion Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas in the early hours of Sunday morning UK time

The 31-year-old self-styled “Gypsy King” was in the city last year to visit Brighton and Hove Amateur Boxing Club and talk to youngsters before attending a memorial.

The event at The Grand hotel was a celebration of the life of Ricky Jordan, a former local boxer.

Fury was then spotted taking part in the Hove Promenade parkrun and as city councillor Robert Nemeth said at the time: “Tyson was pretty hard to miss due to the immense size of him and his two friends as they jogged alongside the hundreds of participants in this morning’s parkrun.

“Lots of us smiled and waved as we ran past.”

Fury became the unified heavyweight champion of the world in 2015 when he dethroned Wladimir Klitschko of his WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO and Ring Magazine crowns with a convincing points decision in Dusseldorf.

However, he relinquished his belts after drug and mental health issues saw him spend two and a half years out of the ring.

Six months before his visit to Brighton Fury had come agonisingly close to regaining a version of the heavyweight title when he met Wilder for the first time.

Many observers thought the British fighter had won, despite being knocked down twice by the American, who packs one of the hardest punches in heavyweight history.

Fury was down for the first time in the ninth round but recovered well to shade the subsequent two rounds and seemed well placed to wrest the crown from the American.

But he was then caught by a two-punch combination which sent him crashing to the canvas, seemingly down and out, yet he somehow got to his feet at the count of nine and was able to see it out to the final bell.

Yet it wasn’t quite enough. The fight was declared a draw and Wilder remained the champion.

A rematch was, of course, always on the cards with most analysts predicting a narrow win for Wilder.

As boxing fans across the UK and hundreds in Sussex set their alarm clocks to witness the fight, the excitement continued to build.

Once again it proved to be a remarkable contest but Fury was not to be denied.

Having arrived ringside atop a golden throne, Fury was in control from the start, decking Wilder in the third round and then dropping him with a devastating body shot in the fifth.

The American was a beaten man and despite his protestations afterwards his corner did the right thing by throwing the towel into the ring in the seventh round to save him from further punishment.

After singing the classic American Pie to his adoring fans, Fury disappeared into the night, champion of the world once more.