Tyson Fury’s father left bloodied after clash with member of Usyk’s entourage

Mayhem broke out in a plush hotel in the centre of Riyadh on Monday afternoon when Tyson Fury’s father, John, head-butted a member of Oleksandr Usyk’s entourage.

Fury and Usyk will meet for the undisputed world heavyweight champion­ship on Saturday but, while both fighters remained calm, the 59-year-old father of the WBC world champion reacted after ­sustained chanting of Usyk’s name by the Ukrainian contingent.

Angry words were exchanged between Fury Sr and a young ­Ukrainian, Stanislav Stepchuk, before the older man lost control. Fury Sr was left bleeding ­heavily from a gash across his forehead while ­Stepchuk appeared to sustain just a tiny cut.

Tyson Fury initially laughed when hearing what had happened and said: “I didn’t see anything. I was in the room doing interviews for Sky Sports, but I’m not here for all that. I’m here to get the job done and go home and rest.”

His entourage, and his father in particular, are often vociferous and Fury shrugged. “They do what they do. I’ve definitely seen worse than a cut on the head.”

Fury was more moved when told about the death of Sherif Lawal, the 29‑year‑old British boxer who died on Sunday night after making his ­pro­fessional debut in Harrow. “God rest his soul, poor old fella,” he said.

“You know getting into this sport that it’s dangerous. You go in there and get paid danger money. You’re getting your brains knocked out, you’re not there to tickle each other to death. We’re there to inflict ­damage on each other by punching each other to the head and body.

“Unfortunately, things like this happen now and again. We all know what we’re getting in for. It’s like people who do ­parachute ­jumping, now and again the parachute doesn’t open and they hit the floor. It doesn’t stop ­everyone from parachute jumping.

“I’ve known the risks my whole life. If it’s my time and it’s God’s will then I’ll die. If not I’ll live. I can’t tempt fate. In [The] Terminator, Sarah ­Connor said something like ‘don’t tempt fate’. I can’t decide what ­happens in the future or worry about it, either.”

Against such a sombre ­backdrop, Fury dismissed Anthony Joshua’s arrival in Riyadh on Sunday as being of little consequence. Asked whether he thought Joshua was ­hoping to intensify interest in a future world title bout with him, Fury said: “There’s not much he can build because we [he and Uysk] have a two-fight deal. So he can build what he wants but he has to wait until it’s all over. Then we can negotiate.

“Now the Saudis are involved we can make these fights like that because money is not a problem. And it’s always about money in these deals.”

The prospect of a rematch with Usyk made Fury smile. “­Double‑bubble, innit. What are we in this for? Money. If I can get ­double‑bubble for one job there’s not much more to be said.”