Tyson Fury‘s father headbutted a member of Oleksandr Usyk‘s entourage after he entered his ‘space’ and disrespected his son, he has admitted.
John Fury was left bleeding from his forehead after he launched the attack in the lobby of the Riyadh Hilton Hotel in Saudi Arabia.
Footage that quickly circulated on social media showed Fury Snr lashing out with his head towards Stanislav Stepchuk, who was wearing Usyk’s team tracksuit. He then had to be restrained after security stepped in to prevent any further confrontation.
Fury Snr has now revealed that he become embroiled after members of Usyk’s camp repeatedly roared their man’s name at Fury’s entourage.
‘I was sat there minding my own business,’ he told IFLTV, wearing a cap that covered up the mark on his head. ‘All I could hear was, “Usyk, Usyk, Usyk”.
He described the chanting as ‘madness’ and said he launched the headbutt after ‘some little idiot came forward in my space’.
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John Fury has revealed why he headbutted a member of Oleksandr Usyk’s entourage
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Video footage caught a clash of heads between the two before blood poured down Fury’s head
The moment John Fury headbutts a member of Usyk’s team
Tempers flared after the two teams crossed paths in the hotel lobby on Monday, leading to a violent confrontation that overshadowed the pre-fight media day ahead of Saturday’s undisputed world heavyweight title fight.
Footage of the incident shows Fury Snr touching heads with one of Usyk’s group and, having been pulled away, then appearing to headbutt another of the Ukrainian’s party.
It was the 59-year-old father of the ‘Gypsy King’ who was cut, however, and despite his attempts to wipe the blood away it continued to flow.
He had to be restrained repeatedly while Usyk’s camp repeatedly roared their man’s name at Fury’s entourage.
When asked what had happened, Fury Snr said his was ‘minding his own business’ but become embroiled by how they were ‘disrespecting my son’.
‘All I could hear was, “Usyk, Usyk, Usyk”,’ he told the media.
‘Coming out with all that rubbish. He’s in my face, trying to be clever. ‘Coming into my space, “Usyk, Usyk”, nobody’s bothering with them. I was only chanting my own son’s name.’
Fury Snr added: ‘I’m going to stand up for my son. At the end of the day, my son is the best in the world and I want people to respect him and give him the credit that he deserves.
‘He’s the best in the world. And when people start saying this and saying that… when I was among them, all I could hear was madness. Some little idiot came forward in my space, he got what he got and that’s the end of it.’
He had walked away from the fracas screaming: ‘We live for blood and guts.’
Fury Snr did issue an apology, however, telling Seconds Out: ‘Sincere apologies to everyone involved. It’s just the way we are. Emotions and tensions are running high.
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Fury Snr apologised for the incident but insisted he had been provoked into the headbutt
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Tyson Fury missed the fracas after conducting media interviews in another room at the hotel
John Fury puts himself head-to-head with Usyk’s team
‘He was a very disrespectful fella. If you come close in a fighting man’s space, you’re gonna cop for something. What matters to me is respect for my son and he wasn’t showing any of it. He mentioned my son and that was it, so he had to have it.
‘It doesn’t bother me [bleeding], it’s what we live for, we’re fighting people.’
Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk admitted the confrontation was a bad look for the sport.
‘I apologised because I thought initially that one of our guys hit John, but then I saw the video and saw it was vice versa,’ Krassyuk said.
‘So do I take my apology back because it was his misbehaviour? He has to apologise because this does not give a good impression about us to the rest of the world. It’s up to him.
‘Usyk’s team and Fury’s team are fighters. It wouldn’t be good if it got out of control. Usyk would say, ‘Don’t touch my guys, they are dangerous’.’
Tyson Fury missed the incident after speaking to the media in a side room.
‘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 heavyweight said.
According to Sky Sports, Saudi Arabian authorities have said no charges are being pressed and that no further action will be taken at this stage.
However, boxing fans have called for Fury Snr to be ‘banned’ from attending Saturday’s heavyweight unification.
Fury has made a habit for attempting to cause chaos in the build-up to big fights involving his family of fighters but has taken things to a new level with his latest violent demonstration.
Boxing supporters are furious with the actions of Fury Snr and have called for fight organisers to discipline him severely.
Posting on X, one boxing fan said: ‘Ban him from attending the fight.’
Another similarly shocked viewer commented: ‘Why does John Fury have to make it about him don’t think I’ve ever seen any other boxers dad so crave the limelight, embarrassing.’
Others described Fury Snr as an ‘absolute clown’ for his headbutt, while a different online post read: ‘He bopped the smallest guy. That tells you all you need to know about John Fury.’
Fury previously served three years in prison for assault in England after gouging a man’s eye in a brawl.
Tyson Fury’s dad John bloodied after clash with Usyk’s team
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Tyson (left) was stunned after seeing his father has been left with a bloodied face
The unbeaten rivals meet for the first time at the Kingdom Arena, with Saturday’s clash crowning the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in 2000 and the first of the four-belt era.
WBC champion Lewis won the WBA and IBF titles from Evander Holyfield in 1999 and Tyson Fury feels the weight of history as he declared: ‘I can’t wait.
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‘It’s unbelievable to be out here. Everyone is on a high. Big-time boxing in Saudi Arabia is fantastic.
‘I’m going to enjoy this week because it’s been many years coming. So we’ll enjoy it. I feel on top of the world and I can’t wait.’
Usyk, the former undisputed cruiserweight king, won his WBA, IBF and WBO titles by outpointing Anthony Joshua at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2021 before successfully defending them against the same opponent in Jeddah a year later.
Attempts to match him against Fury repeatedly fell through until an agreement was finally reached in September, but even then the original fight date of February 17 had to be aborted when Fury suffered a cut in training.
Before they climb into the ring a week of promotional activity awaits, with Usyk sure to be targeted with mind games by Fury, but the Ukrainian insists he will not be paying attention.
‘I’m doing good, I’m happy and I’m hungry. I don’t care how Tyson will be this week. I’m ready,’ Usyk said.
‘For me May 18 is important, what Tyson does in the press conferences doesn’t matter.
‘I don’t think about Tyson Fury now. I’ve seen him in a lot of fights. I don’t know how he will box against me, we will see when we get into the ring.’
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Oleksandr Usyk (centre) arrives for a media day in Riyadh (Nick Potts/PA)
Tyson Fury has said he intends to become the first ‘£500 million heavyweight boxer in history’ ahead of his titanic clash against Usyk on Saturday.
The two fighters will go head-to-head in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this weekend in a bid to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the world since Lennox Lewis.
Fury sustained a nasty gash above his eye during a sparring session, causing the original February date to be pushed back to May 18.
With his 36th birthday quickly approaching and a historic achievement just one win away, many would be forgiven for expecting the Gypsy King to finally make good on a retirement announcement in the near future.
But ahead of the clash, Fury stated his intention to fight another ‘eight to 10 more times to the age of 40’ and revealed his ultimate driver.
‘Happy days, with those fights I’ll become the first £500 million heavyweight boxer in history.’ He told The Telegraph. ‘Some legacy that would be.’
‘This is an important fight but again, I hate to say it because the boxing fans and the boxing purists and all them w******, they don’t want to hear it, but why do you think I box? For the money.
‘If anybody in this building, or anybody in professional boxing, tells me they don’t do this game for money, they’re lying to you, and I speak from the heart.
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Tyson Fury revealed that his motivation is to keep racking in the large sums on offer in blockbuster fights
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The Gypsy King will take on Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk (middle) in Riyadh on Saturday night
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The victor of the bout will become the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the world in 24 years
‘I do it for the dough. The bigger the deal, the better. I’m a prize-fighting pugilist specialist. That’s what I do. I fight for the prize, whether it be gold bars, gold coins, cash, transfers, cars, whatever you want to pay me, pay me in bags of sand for all I care, as long as I can make a drink on it, deal done.’
The monetary might of the Gulf State and the passion of the Saudi minister Turki Alalshikh, make Fury’s ambition a realistic one.
According to the Independent, contracted to earn 70 per cent of the the total purse. And that purse is bulging at a value of £116million, meaning Fury is due to take home £81.2m.
However, he will have to donate £1m of his earnings to Ukraine, Usyk’s homeland, amid the invasion of Russia. That requirement is stipulated in his fight contract.
Fury has also admitted that he knows the Usyk showdown could take years off his life, but says he is ‘living for today’.
That is the price the Gypsy King knows he pays every time he takes one of his giant strides over the ropes into what is being promoted here in the Arabian desert as the Ring Of Fire. At 35 he is acutely aware that the debilitating effects of a gruelling battle worsen with age.
Nor is he in any doubt that the plunging of his own WBC crown into the furnace of Ukrainian war hero Usyk’s WBA, IBF and WBO world titles will be as scorching as they come.
When Fury sits back after acting up on the promotional stage as boxing’s showman supreme, so the parallel success of retrieving his mental health from bi-polar depression reveals itself.
Of this occasion he says: ‘I do believe that every time you enter the ring, you will leave with less than you had when you went in. Each (big) fight takes a little bit more out of you. It’s a good job that I live for today. If I thought about the future I’d be screwed. As Apollo Creed said to Rocky (in the movie) there is no tomorrow.
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Tyson Fury admitted that he believes every time he leaves the ring he returns ‘with less’ than when he went in
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He takes on Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday in Saudi Arabia in one of the biggest fights of the century
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Fury and Usyk will face off against one another for the right to be called the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world
‘In my faith (Catholic) there is no tomorrow, either. Jesus said that when he comes back it will be like a thief in the night. No time, date or hour announced. So be prepared for it at all times and live for the day. Because tomorrow ain’t promised.’
Fury emphasised that philosophy as he recalled lost friends and family: ‘There are a few people I’ve known who went to bed one night and didn’t wake up in the morning.
‘So I greet every day as a blessing. I enjoy every day. And whenever people ask me how I am I just say ‘’I’m alive.’’ That’s a good start to any day.’
Fury has a legion of supporters against judgemental critics of his ticket-selling exhibitionism and if he defeats Usyk he is expected to be favourite for the first time to become BBC Sports Personality it the Year.
As for taking huge bucks to bring this biggest of all fights thousands of miles away from his home fans, he references departed followers by saying: ‘If any of the people around my career are missing it means they’re dead. Because those not physically here can watch it live on TV.
‘I’m sure the dead have better things to think about than a boxing match. If they’re up there in heaven they’re doing heavenly things. If they’re in hell they’re burning.’
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Fury, 35, claimed he has to rely on the experience he has gathered throughout his career if he’s to beat Usyk
Conscious of his own mortality, he goes on: ‘For myself, it’s always one fight at a time. The last five years have passed like that. 2019 feels like yesterday. But my daughter was a little girl then and now she’s massive. When you’re doing your thing the years pass quickly. There’s talk of me having ten more fights. If so, I want them quickly. Ten fights in no longer than five years. Let’s rack ‘em up.
‘If you look back at the greats, at 35 they were told they were finished. Over the hill. Alright, I was probably a better fighter in my early 20s. Now, in my mid-30s, the fountain of youth has left me. Now I’m no spring chicken but I have the wisdom. I have to put youth to one side and use my experience and mentality.’
Starting this Saturday night if he is to make history by becoming boxing’s first undisputed world heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis.
Ironically against a rival title holder who is a year older than himself. Albeit that Usyk is generally perceived to have taken better care of himself down the long, hard decades.
