Tyson Fury slammed Oleksandr Usyk’s manager as a ‘rat b******’ in a fiery live stream. In his first face to face meeting with Usyk since postponing their February 17 fight due to a horror eye cut, Fury raged at Egli Klimas for calling him a ‘coward’.
If either fighter pulls out of the rescheduled fight on May 18, they will face a hefty £8m fine paid straight to their opponent.
Fury was forced to pull out of the original fight after revealing a cut above his right eye. Klimas dubbed the 35-year-old a ‘coward’ for postponing the bout, claiming that he does not want to fight Usyk.
Both boxers joined a live stream of the MMA Hour YouTube show to discuss plans for the rescheduled fight. Fury was sat next to Turki Al-Sheikh, the Saudi Arabian official who has intervened to ensure the duel goes ahead.
However, the call descended into a war of words between Fury and Klimas. The latter, who Fury also accused of calling his wife a ‘b****’, has refused to apologise for labelling Usyk’s rival a ‘coward’.
After being dubbed a ‘coward’ by Klimas and being told that he does not want to fight Usyk, Fury ranted: “Why would I not want to fight for the biggest pay day of my life? I’ve put 10 weeks into a training camp. Why would I not want to fight? You’re a rat.You rat b*****d.
“Don’t call me a coward, I’ve been in boxing, never a coward, never back down, if anyone calls my wife a bitch I’ll take his f****ing teeth out.”
Al-Sheikh was forced to calm Fury down and insisted that the Gypsy King does want to fight Usyk. The Saudi chairman of general authority for entertainment said: “This fight I want it to happen. I delayed my health issue with New York hospitals since the beginning of March for this fight.
“I need to go to the hospitals, it is my health. If I thought Tyson is scared to fight, I would not waste my time. The cut happened – the same thing happened before George Foreman v Muhammad Ali. I have struck a deal with the fighters – $10m if if someone escapes from the fight.”
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