The match between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, a bout that will determine the first undisputed heavyweight champion in 25 years, is a highly anticipated event. However, tension escalated on Monday when John Fury, Tyson Fury’s father, headbutted a member of Usyk’s team.
The heated exchange occurred at a press event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. As it is with many press conference meetings, the two teams yelled their fighter’s name at each other, but John Fury took it a step further and moved face to face with various members of Usyk’s team before planting his head into Stanislav Stepchuk face. Fury Senior walked away with blood streaming from a cut on his forehead, but his victim remained uninjured.
Following this event, Fury spoke with zero remorse. In an interview with iFL TV he said, “It’s the fight game. Emotions are running high. At the end of the day, I was sitting there, minding my own business, and all I could hear was, ‘Usyk! Usyk! Usyk! And I’m going to stand up for my son. At the end of the day, he’s my son, he’s the best in the world, and I want people to respect him and give him the credit he deserves as the champion. He’s the best in the world.”
After some consideration and media follow-up, the pressure got to John Fury, who apologized in a sit-down with Seconds Out. “Sincere apologies to everybody involved, to be honest with you. It’s just the way we are. Emotions and tensions are running high. He was a very disrespectful fella, wasn’t he? If you come close to a fighting man’s space, you’re gonna cop for something, aren’t you? People don’t understand we are the real deal as fighters. What matters to me is respect for my son, and he wasn’t showing any of it…”
Stepchuk, the victim of the incident, provided a different account of the events. Speaking to Seconds Out, he refuted Fury senior’s claims, stating that he had not disrespected Fury in any way and was merely chanting Usyk’s name before the headbutt.
Although the Fury patriarch seems apologetic, this is not his first controversial antic. In the past, he challenged Jake Paul in a fight when his son Tommy Fury was feuding with Paul, and he also challenged Mike Tyson. His son, Tyson Fury, is a chip off the old block with similar behaviour. Still, his next battle against WBO, WBA, and IBF champ Usyk will be the biggest fight of the decade, and it will either set the Fury name on a high combat sports pedestal or leave them with a stain.
