Tyson Fury has called on the UK government to clamp down on knife crime.
The WBC heavyweight champion took to social media on Sunday to reveal that his cousin was murdered after being stabbed in the neck.
Fury, 34, threw his name in the hat to face Oleksandr Usyk in an undisputed showdown shortly after he outpointed Anthony Joshua at the Jeddah Superdome.
Usyk retained the WBA Super, IBF, IBO and WBO world heavyweight titles against ‘AJ’ in Saudi Arabia and Fury told the Ukrainian to “get [his] chequebook out” for a fight for all the belts after he picked up the Ring Magazine recently relinquished by the former unified world champion.
But ‘The Gypsy King’ had an altogether more serious message to convey following the death of Rico Burton.
In a post on Instagram, Fury said:
“My cousin was murdered last night, stabbed in the neck.
“This is becoming ridiculous, idiots carrying knives.
“This needs to stop ASAP [and the] UK government needs to bring [in] higher sentencing for knife crime.”
Fury seemed to be concentrating on preparing for the inevitable clash against Usyk, who moved to 20-0 with 13 quick finishes after beating Fury’s fellow Brit Joshua for the second time in less than a year on Saturday night, but he is instead mourning the death of a family member.
He added:
“It’s a pandemic and you don’t know how bad it is until it’s one of your own.
“Life is very precious and it can be taken away very quickly.
“Enjoy every moment.”