28 October 2023 , 17:54
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Boxing superstar Tyson Fury is squaring off against the Government and demanding more cash to help kids break free from knife and gang culture.
The world heavyweight champ was dealt a huge blow when his cousin Rico Burton was stabbed to death outside a bar. Now he wants action to save other families from the same heartbreak, which he believes is fuelled by gang culture in impoverished communities.
Tyson, 35, said: “One life lost affects up to 50 different people. Families distraught for ever. It’s difficult to recover – I know it is. “It’s never gone. It’s always there in the back of your mind. “Something’s got to happen. It’s down to the government to create more opportunities for people coming from a deprived background. Don’t victimise them.”
Tyson training in Riyadh ahead of tonight’s match (Getty Images)Speaking from his training base in Saudi Arabia, where he faced MMA star Francis Ngannou in a megabucks crossover fight, Tyson said Britain was now a “very dangerous place”.
He said: “The youths of today don’t respect the police, there’s no real punishment forserious crime, and it’s like going to prison is a top thing. It’s very hard to escape the ghetto and it’s a massive circle of being on the estates and living that gang culture. “How many people from the ghetto, from the estates, get off the estates? It’s very rare.”
Man in 30s dies after being stabbed in park sparking police probe
Rico, 31, was stabbed in the neck with a 7in blade outside a bar in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, last August during a mass brawl between two groups of men.
Tyson's cousin Rico Burton was stabbed to death (MEN Media)
Tyson with his wife Paris (Getty Images)Liam O’Pray, 22, was last month jailed for life with a minimum of 28 years for the murder. He was also found guilty of wounding a 17-year-old with intent.
Speaking about the senselessness of knife crime culture, Tyson – who named his seventh child with wife Paris, born last month, after his beloved cousin – said: “When a young kid thrusts a 10-inch kitchen knife in another one – for what reason? ‘He bumped me in a queue’ or ‘He knocked my drink out of my hand a month ago’?”
In the interview with Boxing King Media, the champ added: “We’re only doing ourselves in. We’re all brothers and sisters and we’re killing each other for abso lutely f***-all. I’m saddened by it all. “We’re all God’s children. No matter what colour we are, no matter what religion, cut us all open... we’re all gonna bleed red.”