New Fury vs Usyk twist as beard sparks row and Ukrainian vows to ‘take this additional’

Oleksandr Usyk’s team are vowing to ‘take this further’ as a bizarre row about opponent Tyson Fury’s new beard continues to rumble on just over 24 hours before their epic title clash

A bizarre row over Tyson Fury’s beard continues to overshadow his upcoming clash with Oleksandr Usyk with the Ukrainian’s team vowing to ‘take this further’.

It looked as though the dispute had been put to bed when Fury won the right to keep his beard in tact. The Mancunian ace had been growing his facial hair throughout training camp, prompting Usyk’s team to lodge a request with the Middle East Boxing Commission that Fury remove the beard.

Fury’s promoter Frank Warren told Sky Sports that Fury would be allowed to keep his beard, adding: “He has a beard and there’s been a lot of fighters over the years who’ve fought with beards, and that’s it.”

But despite a seeming resolution to the unexpected argument, it appears like it’ll continue until the start of the fight itself.

The Daily Star’s boxing correspondent Chris McKenna has now reported that “Beard gate at the boxing is not over”.

He claims that Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk is continuing to argue that Fury should trim his beard and is “citing WBC rules about how the length of the beard cannot act as a cushion or alter trajectory of shots”.

Krassyuk has also said that his camp will continue to “push this further”.

The International Boxing Association dictates that boxers can only compete with beards shorter than 10cms which do not cover the neck. And Usyk’s team are arguing that the WBC, one of the authorities whose belt will be fought for in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night, has similar rules in place.

Fury and Usyk will clash for a second time in Riyadh after Usyk won May’s initial contest on a split decision, marking the first and only professional loss of Fury’s career.