Tyson Fury’s father, John Fury, on Monday had blood gushing from his forehead after a video appeared to show him headbutting a member of Oleksandr Usyk’s camp in the buildup to Saturday’s undisputed world heavyweight clash in Riyadh.
The incident took place at the hotel hosting the prefight media day and was quickly broken up by security.
Footage shared on X appeared to show John Fury go eyeball-to-eyeball with a man wearing an Usyk team tracksuit before lashing out at him with his head.
Photo: Reuters
The 59-year-old was later seen with a cut forehead and two streams of blood pouring down his face, either side of his nose.
“They were disrespecting my son, the best ever heavyweight to wear a pair of boxing gloves. Coming out with all that rubbish, in my face, trying to be clever,” John Fury told Sky Sports afterward.
“Coming into my space: ‘Usyk, Usyk,’ nobody is bothering with them, I was only chanting my own son’s name. So they stepped closer and stepped closer and at the end of it I am a warrior, that is what we do,” he said. “If you come in the space, you are going to get what is coming.”
Tyson Fury, was not present when the incident occurred.
“I didn’t see anything, I was in the room doing interviews, but I’m not here for all that, I’m here to get the job done and go home and rest,” the World Boxing Council heavyweight titleholder said.
Saudi Arabian authorities said that no charges have been filed regarding the incident at present, but Usyk’s promoter Alexander Krassyuk told Sky that John Fury should apologize for his actions.
“We are the example for the world, the whole world is watching us and new generations, kids, are taking us as examples,” Krassyuk said. “What will they see from this? What will they make of this?”
Tyson Fury and Usyk face off in the Saudi Arabian capital on Saturday with the winner able to become the first unified champion of boxing’s four-belt era.
BOXER’S DEATH
Meanwhile, a British boxer has died after he lost on his professional debut in London.
Sherif Lawal was knocked down by a blow to the head from Malam Varela in the fourth round of a scheduled six-round middleweight fight on Sunday at Harrow Leisure Centre. The referee waved it off to allow paramedics to attend to Lawal. He was taken to hospital, but died. He was 29.
“The British Boxing Board of Control sends their condolences to the family of Sherifdeen Lawal following his tragic passing,” the board wrote on X on Monday.”
Additional reporting by AP
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