Tyson Fury’s dad John has said that the heavyweight won’t fight Oleksandr Usyk until he “apologises for trying to bamboozle the public” and, as the Fury camp sees it, derailing the highly-anticipated fight.
Speaking to Seconds Out earlier this week, the boxing family patriarch admitted that the chances of the fight between Fury and Usyk are looking more doubtful by the day, with negotiations souring earlier this year following a debate over the purse.
However, in the middle of discussions, it looks as though things got a lot more personal and both camps have exchanged choice words since, with the Ukrainian calling Fury “greedy belly” for supposedly demanding a 70/30 split and John Fury labelling his son’s would-be opponent a “poison rabbit“.
Admittedly, boxing trash talk is always a world we’ll struggle to take fully seriously, but Fury senior still made it clear that the situation is no joke on their end, insisting that the WBC champion requires an apology before talk of a potential fight stand any chance of resuming.
John Fury has said Tyson Fury won't fight Oleksandr Usyk until he makes a public apology: “Unless he gets on video and tells the truth of what he did, there'll never be a fight for Usyk, never… It'll be when he apologises for trying to put the blame on Tyson.” [@SecondsOutLive]
“I’ll tell you what’s gonna happen here”, says Fury, “until he gets on and makes a proper video explaining what he did, tell the truth, he may never get the fight with Tyson. It’s gone past money now with Tyson. It’s gone past everything with us. They are taking the p***.
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He’s a nobody, Usyk. Yes he’s won a few belts off [Anthony Joshua]. You’ve seen how AJ’s been performing — he’s not performed for a while now… Tyson will iron him right out, and anybody in the game knows it.”
“They’re not good businessmen. What they’re doing now proves they’re all cowardly liars… There’s been no concrete offer anywhere, there’s been no money put forward, no deposits, nothing… he’s trying to turn the public against Tyson, which they’ve done a good job of because the public’s daft anyway”.
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Fury went on to assure that “unless he gets on the video and tells the truth of what he did, there will never be a fight for Usyk … If it ever does come off, [it will be] when he apologises for trying to bamboozle the public.” That being said, Tyson still seems to be hinting that something might happen:
Tyson Fury teasing a "big announcement coming" on Instagram this morning: "It's here, it's landed."
This, of course, doesn’t necessarily mean that he and the unified IBF, WBO and IBO title-holder have come to an agreement behind the scenes but it feels like the only concrete outcome fight fans would be interested in hearing about, that is, if the appeal is still even there.
Earlier this week, former boxer and four-time world champions Carl Froch told talkSPORT, “It’s getting frustrating now, it’s getting annoying listening to him because we all just wanna see Tyson Fury fight” — a sentiment that most would probably echo.
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Froch even went on to wonder “how serious he is now about fighting”, warning that “if he gets too out of shape and he’s out of the ring for too long, it gets past the point of no return and all of a sudden he’s gonna find himself in a hard fight against somebody who’s bang average”, let alone Usyk,
You can watch John Fury’s full interview on Second Out Live down below:
Whether or not Usyk feels like he owes the Furys an apology is another question entirely.
Featured Image — Tyson Fury/John Fury/Oleksandr Usyk (via Instagram)
Sport
Scott McTominay jokes he’s ‘fuming’ he didn’t score a hat-trick against Chelsea as he reflects on Man United’s mentality
Danny Jones
Scott McTominay has joked he’s “fuming” with himself after failing to score a hat-trick in Manchester United’s 2-1 win over Chelsea on Wednesday nightand shed some light on the mentality around Old Trafford.
McTominay starred in the Red Devils’ win over Mauricio Pochettino’s side on a cold night at home, managing to bag a brace with a goal in the first and second half to get his squad over the line, but he himself said he could have had more.
Speaking to MUTV after the game, the 26-year-old said he and the squad knew they needed to drum up a reaction after the Newcastle disappointment, adding that contributing more goals is something he wants to keep working on and insisting that plenty of people back him to do so.
Confessing that his mum, dad and grandad have all been encouraging him to “get in the box” and that he just needs to “believe in [him]self and go for it”, the Scotsman did go on to quip he was “fuming” to not grab a third as he shook his head went on to shake and reveal a wry smile.
Scott McTominay was the match-winner against Chelsea.
Commentator and presenter Stewart Gardner went on to list McTominay’s impressive stats this season, having now scored 14 goals in his last 33 appearances for club and country. A seriously good rate from a midfielder typically entrusted to help link play and break things up in the middle of the park.
Now boasting half a dozen goals and an assist across all competitions so far this campaign, he sits as the club’s leading goalscorer in the Premier League with five finishes to his name — with only Bruno Fernandes having contributed more (five goals and five assists) — he’s genuinely become one of Man United’s main goal threats.
While he recently rubbished talk that he played as a striker regularly coming up through the youth academy, simply having been deployed for the odd game in reality, he has always had a shot on him and it isn’t the first time he’s bagged a winner or a big goal for the Reds. This wasn’t a bad one either:
Chatting with the pundits on Amazon Prime Sport, he reiterated that he could have had “one or two more” on another night and agreed that the performance against Newcastle in the previous fixture was “pretty abysmal”, holding his hands up to admit that it was “no way near good enough”.
Reflecting on the later chance he had to seal the hat-trick towards the end of the game, he said he simply needed to “calm down on the last one”.
As for the mentality to get the result during a difficult period where the club remained under a lot of scrutiny from pundits and fans alike, McTominay went on to say that the manager is responsible for the way they played and some “lighter training sessions to keep energy levels up” definitely helped.
Regardless, he was sure to not get ahead of himself and assured ten Hag‘s team were still taking things a game at a time. You can watch the full highlights from Manchester United vs Chelsea down below:
Featured Images — Scott McTominay (via Instagram)/MUTV
Sport
Kevin Sinfield has entered the final leg of yet another ultra marathon challenge for MND
Danny Jones
Ex-rugby player turned England coach Kevin Sinfield has begun the final day of yet another incredible ultra marathon challenge he is undertaking to raise money and awareness around motor neurone disease (MND), with the sports personality scheduled to finish up this Thursday.
Having set off on 1 December, the Oldham-born athlete is facing what he has called easily his “toughest challenge” yet, taking on the newly-dubbed ‘Ultra 7 in 7 in 7’, which will see him once again run an ultra marathon every day for seven days across seven different cities.
Following on from his first Ultra 7 in 7 back in 2020 and most recent one last year, the Leeds Rhinos legend has now raised well over £8 million pounds for the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA), the cause he got behind following his former teammate and best mate Rob Burrow’s diagnosis in 2019.
Now, having taken on the incredible feat once again — running the equivalent of 27 miles (43km) a day — Sinfield is hoping to not just reach the trademark £777,777 fundraising target, but smash it for a fourth consecutive time. Here he is finishing up his penultimate leg in his second home.
Setting off from Yorkshire’s iconic Headingley Stadium with a team of friends and volunteers, the 43-year-old has passed through the likes of Cardiff, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Dublin and Brighton, and is now staring down one last push towards the finale from Twickenham Stadium to the Mall in London.
Having already amassed over £557k in donations since the start of his remarkable journey, he is well on course to reach the finish line in every sense of the word.
The best part about this most recent Ultra 7 fundraising challenge, though, is that beyond just putting in the hard yards in Burrow‘s name and raising money for the MNDA, the funds generated from this series of runs will be going to multiple causes.
As well as the Leeds Hospitals Charity and The Darby Rimmer MND Foundation, money will also be going to the Irish MNDA set up by former Scottish rugby player, Doddie Weir, who sadly died from the condition in 2022 but has remained an inspiration to Sinfield and countless others over recent years.
Having echoed his lasting sentiment that “MND isn’t untreatable, it’s just underfunded” throughout his own campaigning for the cause, the local sporting hero will also be representing the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation in his honour. Heartwarming stuff.
As we’re sure is the case for all of you too, we’ve been absolutely blown away by this man over the last few years not only in his ability to keep completing these huge feats of endurance but by the size of his heart in continuing to fundraise on such a massive scale.
From raising awareness around MND and becoming an emblem of friendship with his best mate Rob, Kevin Sinfield has truly set an example for all of us and will no doubt prove a role model to millions for years to come.
Danny Jones -
23rd June 2023 
