The Gypsy King, Tyson Fury, announced that his cousin Rico Burton had died in a stabbing at Altrincham, Manchester. The 31-year-old got into an altercation when the assailant took out the knife and stuck it in his neck.
Before heading into Manchester, Burton was watching Anthony Joshua’s defeat by Oleksandr Usyk, at Church Inn in Flixton.
Tyson shared a post on Instagram, saying “My cousin was murdered last night, stabbed in the neck, this is becoming ridiculous idiots carry knives. This needs to stop.” He added, “RIP RICO BURTON may the lord god grant you a good place in heven [heaven]. see you soon”.
Fury, however, didn’t share a picture of his cousin, going with a poster asking to stop knife crime instead. It is not exactly clear how close the two are either.
However, Steve Egan, who had formerly coached Tyson and Burton, told The Sun “Rico, a nice young man whom I had the pleasure of teaching. I’m inconsolable. I’m moved to tears. His brother and I have been friends since he was thirteen.”
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Steve’s brother Shaun had also previously coached Burton at Jimmy Egan’s Boxing Academy in Manchester and spoke to Manchester Evening News, saying “He was an absolute talent”, and added, “He was such a nice lad, he was hard working and had a great sense of humour.”
Shaun continued, “What’s happened is just awful. He was just a great guy. To hear he has died like this is devastating.”
Burton trained and boxed at the gym until his late teens and during this time, he won two national titles as a junior.
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“Out of the people we had coming through our doors, he was probably one of the best we have ever seen. As a young adult he used to come to our gym and was so talented with so much potential. I have watched him win a national title after going through a windscreen in the same week. He was always smiling and a real positive force”, Shaun continued, adding, “What people don’t realise when they stab someone is what that does to families and how it can ruin them.”
