Oleksandr Usyk has reacted to a member of his team getting headbutted by John Fury by sending out a brutal message to the father of his upcoming opponent.
Usyk is a famously cool and calm character who never often seems phased by much that takes place both inside or outside of the ring.
Following arguably one of the best wins of his career back in 2022 against Anthony Joshua, he had to watch the Brit dump the WBA, WBO and IBF belts he failed to win back off the Ukrainian over the ring apron and on to the floor, then stood in the ring while Joshua ranted on the mic. Usyk barely reacted and has since spoken with understanding about the incident.
This week, Usyk is back in the ring again as he attempts to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world by beating Tyson Fury, who is the current WBC and lineal champion. He is coming off the back of solid victories against Dubois and Joshua, and before that was the undisputed cruiserweight king.
Yesterday, the fighters arrived in Saudi Arabia and a fracas soon ensued when both teams came face to face. John Fury was irked by comments from someone in Usyk’s team, Stanislav Stepchuk, so decided to headbutt him but came off worse by opening up a bloody gash on his own forehead while Stepchuk seemed unmoved and unmarked.
Speaking to Boxing Social he gave his reaction to events.
“It’s bad behaviour. He’s a big man. He’s a father. Not a street fighter. This is like a son, my friend. This is bad behaviour.”
Usyk then played down the altercation and said that he is only focusses on his own game and now Fury nor his father when he spoke to The Stomping Ground.
“Crazy day, crazy week. For me, it doesn’t matter because my focus is on the fight. Bad behaviour from Fury team and Fury’s father, it’s only a problem for Fury’s team. I think Tyson has bipolar. One week Tyson says [I’m a] rabbit, bad guy, light-heavyweight.
“Next week, good boxer and a lot of good words for me. I don’t think about, my focus is only on the fight. I don’t have a prediction because I’m not an expert, I’m only an athlete. My prediction… beautiful fight… beautiful win. Oleksandr ‘The Cat’ Usyk. Undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.”
This altercation has surely added an extra level of emotion to the fight when it plays out this Saturday live on DAZN and Sky Sports and now the referee has been revealed.
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