10-05-2025
Conor McGregor made his feelings on Tyson Fury clear - but he saw through him
Conor McGregor once accused Tyson Fury of "bottling it" for not intervening when a fellow boxer's father was involved in a scuffle back in 2021.
As Tommy, the half-brother of the Gypsy King, won his first fight in a year and a half on Friday, fans might be recall the past spat between his older sibling Tyson and UFC star McGregor.
The Crumlin-born fighter fired the opening salvo in 2022, criticising Fury for not stepping up when Billy Joe Saunders' dad was manhandled by security at a fight the previous year.
In May 2021, Saunders was defeated by Canelo Alvarez in their middleweight world title showdown, and the British boxer's father tried to climb over the barrier to support his son.
He was forcefully pushed back by a security guard, leading to members of Saunders' team getting involved in the ensuing melee. Fury, however, chose to keep his distance, watching the incident unfold from behind the railing - a decision that didn't sit well with McGregor.
In a tweet posted a year later, the 36-year-old said: "Yup the Joyces. Big Joe!. U bottled it with Billy joe Da, what were you doing there ? ULeft him, Versace t*** Nothing.
"Ya's did it right ye right hahahahaaj. Even when I'm wrong i'm right. Who did it right ? The Mac daddy tonight, in house. Miami d12! Bahamas."
The jibes between Fury and McGregor heated up not long after, with Fury quickly replying: "Come back when u win a fight mush. And the difference in me and you is i don't get myself in trouble and people actually like me, your just a bully who hit old man."
McGregor wasn't having any of it, as he shot back with a string of jibes: "You are just a little r** licker bro. That's all. You stood there while your friends father was being attacked and done nothing. That's the be all end all bro. God luck, God bless."
However, earlier this year, Fury confessed that their public scuffle was all for show and a clever play to grab headlines. Chatting on Queensberry Promotions' YouTube channel, the Gypsy King disclosed that they chose their time just right in order to maximise views, reports Dublin Live.
"Yeah that was Super Bowl weekend, a good time to get some publicity. Great timing, actually. We were trending all over Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. Pretty good, pretty good work," he said.
Quizzed about his true feelings towards McGregor, Fury replied: "I think he's alright. He's a good fighter, isn't he? Or, well, he has been a good fighter in the past. It is what it is. Can't complain, can you?
"I think McGregor's about this big (motions with his hand) and I'm about this big (again motions with his hand), so how could there be any animosity?
"And we're in totally different sports, so yeah, it's good. We created the headlines which is what we wanted anyway."
Since their spat, there's been no reported interaction between the two, friendly or otherwise, and it seems the feud has been put to bed. Meanwhile, Fury's half-brother, Tommy, made a successful return to the ring with a points win over Kenan Hanjalic in Budapest on Friday evening.
