John Fury, the father of WBC heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, was involved in a brawl with some members of Oleksandr Usyk’s team, resulting in an injury. The 59-year-old had attempted to headbutt Stanislav Stepchuk, a member of Usyk’s team, and this led to bloodied wound. The clash was quickly deescalated and both parties were quickly brought under control.
The incident happened on Monday, just days to one of the most anticipated events in decades, the undisputed heavyweight fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk. For the first time since 1999, all four heavyweight titles will be on the line and one man is expected to leave the fight with all four.
Both teams are currently in Saudi Arabia, where the fight will be held, and this is when the nasty incident went down. The Saudi authorities say they would not be filing any charges. Reacting to the clash, Tyson Fury said he was not aware that such a thing went down, claiming he was only focused on the interview he was doing at that time: “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.”
Speaking about the issue, Usyk said he was responsible for cooling things down after talking to his side: “I said, ‘Hey, Team Usyk back. Step back, please.’ Listen, my team is very good if you want to fight, not boxing, street, shooting, knives, or wrestling. But I said: ‘Hey, hey guys, please back.’ We must do good behaviour.”
The Ukrainian also expressed disappointment in his men and also called out Tyson’s team for bad behaviour. He further added that the incident would not distract him ahead of his fight: “If you want a situation like to destabilize my team, it’s not possible. Because it’s not only professional sportsmen, it’s professional soldiers, it’s professional sportsmen, it’s professional people.
“This situation for me doesn’t matter, it’s only motivation for my team.”
With just a few days to the fight, expectations are high around the world a new era in heavyweight boxing is right around the corner, regardless of who comes out on top.
