John Fury was caught in the middle of an extremely heated exchange between his son’s entourage and Oleksandr Usyk’s ahead of Tyson’s unification title fight this weekend, during which he was spotted headbutting a member of the opposing team.
The clip and images of John Fury‘s bleeding forehead quickly began circulating all over the internet, and now the boxing patriarch has come out to explain what led to the incident and why he headbutted Usyk faithful, Stanislav Stepchuk.
As can be seen in the original footage, it appears as though the only cause for the altercation was Stepchuk and co. chanting ‘Usyk!’ in support of the Ukrainian boxer as the Fury family and their followers were doing the same.
Cut to a few moments later and that’s exactly what you’ll find on John Fury’s face – a small gash after he decided to headbutt the considerably younger and smaller man from Usyk’s corner.
‼️ Full, close-up video of John Fury's headbutt clash with Oleksandr Usyk's team which left him bleeding today…
The moments leading up to and including the John Fury headbutt.
Fury was insistent that it was the opponents that started the confrontation, despite admitting he was already chanting Tyson‘s name, and that was seemingly what sparked not only an intense face-off between another member of Usyk’s team but was, apparently, enough to justify headbutting him too.
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As he explains to Sky Sports, “he disrespected my son, the greatest heavyweight to ever wear a pair of boxing gloves, coming out with all that rubbish. You know, he’s in my face, trying to be clever.
“[They were] coming into my space chanting… nobody was bothering with them. They stepped closer and closer, so at the end of the day I’m a warrior – that’s what we do, we’re fighting people”.
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He goes on to argue that the clash wasn’t even about the fight and that tensions weren’t necessarily that high prior to this flashpoint but that is simply normal behaviour in his world, quipping that’s “seven nights a week for me, we’re not interested.”
🗣️ 'They came into my space!’
Tyson Fury’s father John Fury gives his perspective of the clash between himself and Oleksandr Usyk’s camp in Riyadh pic.twitter.com/uXACHAdhHm
— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) May 13, 2024
He’s been heavily criticised for the attack but here’s John Fury explaining why he decided to headbutt Usyk’s team member.
Speaking to iFL TV, Fury Sr. did admit that “emotions are running high” and that he was always going “stand up for my son”, labelling Stepchuk a “little idiot”.
As for his opposite number, who also appeared on camera with a cut on his forehead, he argued that Usyk’s team “didn’t offend him” and were simply chanting in support. As for the WBO, WBA (Super) and IBF title-holder himself, he labelled John Fury’s behaviour as “bipolar” and simply “bad behaviour”.
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John Fury has ultimately gone on to say sorry, telling Seconds Out: “Sincere apologies to everybody involved. It’s just the way we are. Emotions and tensions are running high. He was a very disrespectful fella,” adding, “If you come close in a fighting man’s space, you’re gonna cop for something.
Tyson Fury takes on Oleksandr Usyk in Riyad this Saturday, 18 May, with the latter looking to add the WBC belt to his collection and the Manc boxer looking to declare himself the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. Who do you reckon is going to take it?
Featured Images — Sky Sports/Serge Lapin (via Michael Benson on X)
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Scott Carson reveals important behind-the-scenes role at Manchester City
Danny Jones
Recently retired goalkeeper Scott Carson has revealed the unsung but important role he had behind the scenes during his time at Manchester City.
The 40-year-old ex-pro called time on his playing career after more than two decades and six years in sky blue, having made just two appearances for the club during a period in which they won 11 trophies.
Carson officially hung up his gloves on 23 October 2025, following his contract expiration, and since then has found himself carrying out a number of interviews, including one with Fozcast, hosted by another fellow shotstopper who spent time in Manchester, Ben Foster.
While lots of people have joked that he did very little to earn the flurry of medals so late in his career, or at the very least theorised as to what he actually did behind the scenes, he’s now been more open than ever about the largely sidelined spell.
🗣️ "When people had to be serious, they were serious"
Scott Carson reveals what it was like working under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. pic.twitter.com/HZGjVkrso0
Sitting down with Sky Sports, the Cumbrian keeper confirmed that initially it was, indeed, just a case of serving as not even as a rotation option but a back-up third choice.
Nevertheless, he’s an experienced veteran with 11 different teams on his CV, including Leeds United, Liverpool and Sheffield Wednesday – though only a handful of games for each – as well as half a century of appearances at Wigan Athletic before his longest stints at the likes of West Brom and Derby County.
While this job usually involves purely training, helping keep other players sharp, he says that after settling into the Etihad Campus a little more, he found himself performing a much more influential, albeit largely unsung, role in the background.
Getting validation from manager Pep Guardiola that the side “needed more of that”, he essentially ended up providing valuable seniority and motivation amongst the group, despite only playing a couple of times.
Bidding farewell to the Whitehaven-born cult hero, the club wrote: “During his time at City, Carson has been praised by goalkeeping coach Xabi Mancisidor and peers Ederson and Stefan Ortega Moreno for his work ethic and the effect of his positive attitude amongst the group.”
Speaking about Guardiola specifically, he hailed the Catalan coach for having overhauled modern football in this country, as well as giving him the secondary task of supporting his teammates, be it via boosting morale and ‘picking up’ those left frustrated by matchday selection.
As well as noting his widely publicised detail-oriented nature, he also made a point of recognising that Pep himself was “evolving each season”, whether or not everyone else saw it.
In short, he said he has helped improve the quality of the Premier League and, more specifically, that he helped redefine what a goalkeeper can be in the division.
You can watch the rest of the interview in full down below.
Manchester set to host five UEFA EURO 2028 matches – including England’s opening game
Emily Sergeant
Manchester has been confirmed to be the host of five matches at the upcoming UEFA EURO tournament in 2028.
This also, crucially, would include England‘s opening match, should they qualify directly.
The joint announcement by Manchester City and Manchester City Council today comes as UEFA has now released key details about the UK & Ireland 2028 competition – which, as it stands, is less than 1,000 days away.
It has been confirmed that the Etihad Stadium – which is known as The City of Manchester Stadium when not relating to Manchester City football club – will host four Group Stage matches across four different groups, offering both local and international football fans the chance to see a range of different national teams in action.
On top of this, Manchester will also be the host a Round of 16 knockout match as the tournament progresses.
UEFA EURO 2028 will kick off at the National Stadium of Wales in Cardiff on Friday 9 June 2028, culminating in the Final at Wembley Stadium on Sunday 9 July 2028.
Across the UK and Ireland, nine stadiums will host matches during the upcoming tournament – with other northern stadiums including Everton Stadium in Liverpool, and St James’ Park over in Newcastle.
More than three million tickets – as sold by UEFA – are set to be available for the tournament, and more information on this will be issued in due course.
Following an independent assessment, UEFA EURO 2028 is expected to generate up to £3.6 billion in socio-economic benefits for the UK and Ireland between 2028 and 2031, with benefits including job creation, regional growth, and direct spending from international visitors.
The countdown has started in Manchester for #EURO2028!
Five matches are scheduled to be played here – including England's opener if they qualify – and more than 300,000 fans will be welcomed to the city in June 2028.
Danny Jones -
14th May 2024 
