Riyadh – Tyson Fury dismissed the image of his father John’s bloody face after he appeared to headbutt a member of Oleksandr Usyk’s entourage on Monday afternoon in Riyadh.
The heavyweight rivals are finally in Saudi Arabia for Saturday’s undisputed title fight, and for all that a degree of mutual respect has long existed between the fighters, John Fury threatened it at the start of one of the most significant fight weeks of all.
When their respective entourages crossed paths, he squared up to Stanislav Stepchuk before appearing to head butt another who was significantly smaller. It regardless was John Fury who — eventually — departed the scene with a cut towards the top of his nose.
Fury, at 35 two years younger than Usyk, didn’t see the incident because it took place while he was fulfilling some of his media obligations, but having learned of it, when he was then asked, he cut a composed figure on the eve of what could prove his defining fight.
“I didn’t see anything,” he said. “I was in the room doing interviews for [broadcaster] Sky Sports, but I’m not here for all that, I’m here to get the job done and go home and rest.
“They do what they do. I’ve definitely seen worse than a cut on the head.”
In 2011, John Fury was found guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, having attempted to gouge out a man’s eye in a brawl in 2010. His victim Oathie Sykes was left half-blind; Fury was handed an 11-year sentence, of which he served four.
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