Oleksandr Usyk has warned Tyson Fury he has a secret army of knife-wielding soldiers at his beck and call should his rival’s team cross the line again this week.
A hotel skirmish between the fighters’ entourages reached a violent crescendo on Monday when Fury’s dad John headbutted one of the smallest of Usyk’s friends. Fury Sr, 59, was left with blood running down his face after picking on Stanislav Stepchuk whom he accused of disrespecting his world-champion son.
The rest of Usyk’s furious team were champing at the bit to avenge their stricken compatriot but their leader, who himself joined the frontline when Russia declared war on Ukraine in 2022, kept a cool head as he put the Furys on notice ahead of their undisputed heavyweight clash on Saturday.
Stepchuk was left with a bruised forehead but Usyk’s team decided to take no further action. Fury Sr, who spent four years in prison for gouging out a man’s eye, later apologised directly to Saudi Arabia’s boxing ringmaster Turki Alalshikh for the assault which overshadowed the start of an historic fight week.
Fury and Usyk have so far been kept apart in the desert but will come face to face tomorrow, 48 hours before they meet in the Riyadh ring to crown the division’s first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield in 1999. And while the Brit laughed off his dad’s ugly behaviour, Usyk will use the altercation as fuel ahead of the landmark first bell.
“My friend did not bleed because he is a powerful guy,” he added. “He is a street guy. Did you see the video? He was like a Pitbull. He’s only my friend, it’s a secret who the soldiers are in my team. It’s bad, it’s just bad and a stupid situation. I don’t want to call John ‘bad’ because I don’t know him or his mind. But he hit my friend, my team and it’s just another reason for me to win in the ring.”
