Tyson Fury has been likened to Vladimir Putin by Oleksandr Usyk’s manager as tensions rose ahead of their highly-anticipated heavyweight rematch.
Fury suffered his first professional loss at the hands of Usyk in May earlier this year as the Ukrainian fighter became the first undisputed heavyweight champion in 25 years.
The pair are set to step back into the ring for the rematch in December and the war of words between the two camps has already begun.
On Thursday, Fury hit out at Usyk on Instagram, suggesting that the 37-year-old made a mistake by not finishing him off for good in the first fight.
‘You had your shot but couldn’t finish the job! Mistake! Now your [sic] about to feel the wrath of A menace!’ the Brit said.
‘F**k @usykaa f**k @klimasmanagement f**k @alex.krassyuk & if your down with Usyk then f**k you 2! Gypsy king 2024 coming for you! Dec 21 is mine. Me against the world. Incoming 3x heavyweight champ!’
In response, Usyk kept it cordial, jokingly replying on social media: ‘You’re really cool, my friend.’
However, the same could not be said for Egis Klimas, Usyk’s long-time manager, who hit back at ‘The Gyspy King’ by comparing his antics to that of the Russian president Putin.
‘Sounds like Putin, if you are not with me fuck you, and it means you against me,’ Klimas said on X. ‘You pal, fuck you back!!!’
With just over two months to go until the rematch, Fury recently admitted that he has yet to enter training camp to prepare for the fight.
The 36-year-old has faced calls to remove his father John Fury from his corner on fight night this time around, but the heavyweight confirmed this week that he intends to keep the same set-up as he plots revenge against Usyk.
‘I know what I’ve got to do, nothing drastic,’ he said, speaking to Undisputed ahead of their new video game launch.
‘People can say “I want to change trainers or I’ll blame it on me conditioning coach or I’ll blame it on the cook or I’ll blame it on the mouse next door.” Same team, same everything. I know what I’ve got to do.
‘I thought I won the fight last time. I gave him rounds eight, nine and ten, and round nine was a 10-8.
‘So that’s what I give him out of the fight, but obviously the judges saw it a bit different, couple of them did. One of them had me winning. That’s what it was. It was as close as it can be.’
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