- Former boxing champion accuses Fury Snr, 59, of ‘doing things in a stupid way’
Former boxing champion Tony Bellew has today slammed Tyson Fury‘s father for ‘making it all about him’ after he headbutted a member of Oleksandr Usyk‘s team.
The former cruiserweight champion has accused John Fury, 59, of ‘doing things in a stupid way’ after he yesterday drew blood after clashing with the Ukrainian war hero’s entourage.
But WBC champion Tyson’s wife Paris Fury has previously leaped to her father-in-law’s defence, saying ‘he is just a soft man’ and insists he is nothing like you see on screen.
The latest violent outburst has taken the limelight away from the Gypsy King in a week in which he bids to become the first unified world heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999.
Fury Snr lashed out in the lobby of the palatial Riyadh Hilton Hotel in Saudi Arabia and he had to be restrained after security stepped in to prevent any further confrontation.
Former boxing champion Tony Bellew has today slammed Tyson Fury ‘s father for ‘making it all about him’ after he headbutted a member of Oleksandr Usyk’s team
The former cruiserweight champion has labelled John Fury, 59, (pictured) of ‘doing things in a stupid way’ after he drew blood after clashing with the Ukrainian war hero’s entourage
Fury Snr later explained it was because someone had entered his ‘space’ and disrespected his son.
Bellew has now waded into the row after Fury Snr warned him he would ‘get a headbutt too’ if he ‘comes around me’ after predicting Tyson would struggle against Usyk.
‘His [Tyson Fury’s] brothers are lovely people. I like his brothers. Shane, and also the younger brothers, I think they’re good people. I think the world of them,’ Bellew said.
‘I think his dad [John] says silly things at times, but I know the Furys, I’ve spent time around them. I think his dad’s just trying to protect his son. He does it in a stupid way at times and wants to make things about him, which isn’t very bright though.’
Tyson’s wife of 15 years, Paris, admitted her father-in-law is just as ‘loud, boisterous and scary’ in real life, but argued that people are only seeing him in ‘fight mode’.
Speaking in October last year on property mogul Robert Moore’s podcast series, The Disruptors, she said underneath it all he is ‘just a soft man’.
‘He looks it and he sounds it and comes in and says [puts on John Fury voice] ‘Can I have a cup of tea?’ and you go [leans back and sucks in air] but the truth is he is just a good guy.
‘He’s a father, he’s a grandfather and he’ll come in and play with the kids, you know… he’ll have a visit and chat with the other children.’
She continued that the public don’t see what he is really like as during interviews ‘he is all irate and that’s fight mode’.
Tyson’s wife of 15 years, Paris, admitted her father-in-law is just as ‘loud, boisterous and scary’ in real life, but argued that people are only seeing him in ‘fight mode’
John Fury (right) with his son Tyson Fury during a media day in Riyadh on Monday
John Fury plants a kiss on the cheek of his son Tyson in Riyadh in October ahead of his fight against Francis Ngannou
John Fury has revealed why he headbutted a member of Oleksandr Usyk’s entourage
Video footage caught a clash of heads between the two before blood poured down Fury’s head
‘All of the Furys have fight mode and it is serious and intense and it’s loud and it is aggressive,’ Paris added.
‘And then obviously you have got them at home. It’s like Tyson at home – he’s a gentle giant.’
Tyson has previously described his father, who was once jailed for gouging out a fellow Traveller’s eye in a savage feud, as ‘the clan leader’.
Fury Snr told The Telegraph ‘I am outspoken and I do let go in the full flight’ and that he is ‘guided a lot by our lord and saviour Jesus Christ’.
Speaking after headbutting a member of Usyk’s camp, he told one online channel Fury told one online channel: ‘It’s testosterone, isn’t it? And I’m full of it. From me boots to the top of me head… it could have been worse.
‘I could have hit him with an uppercut and a right hand and put him into the promised land.’
Footage of the violent incident shows Fury Snr touching heads with one of Usyk’s group and, having been pulled away, then appearing to headbutt another of the Ukrainian’s party.
It was the father of the ‘Gypsy King’ who was cut, however, and despite his attempts to wipe the blood away it continued to flow.
He had to be restrained repeatedly while Usyk’s camp repeatedly roared their man’s name at Fury’s entourage.
When asked what had happened, Fury Snr said his was ‘minding his own business’ but become embroiled by how they were ‘disrespecting my son’.
‘All I could hear was, ‘Usyk, Usyk, Usyk’,’ he told the media.
‘Coming out with all that rubbish. He’s in my face, trying to be clever. ‘Coming into my space, ‘Usyk, Usyk’, nobody’s bothering with them. I was only chanting my own son’s name.’
The victor of the bout will become the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the world in 24 years
Fury Snr added: ‘I’m going to stand up for my son. At the end of the day, my son is the best in the world and I want people to respect him and give him the credit that he deserves.
‘He’s the best in the world. And when people start saying this and saying that… when I was among them, all I could hear was madness. Some little idiot came forward in my space, he got what he got and that’s the end of it.’
He had walked away from the fracas screaming: ‘We live for blood and guts.’
Boxing fans have called for Fury Snr to be ‘banned’ from attending Saturday’s heavyweight unification following the violent confrontation.
Fury has made a habit for attempting to cause chaos in the build-up to big fights involving his family of fighters but has taken things to a new level with his latest violent demonstration.