A friend claims that Tyson Fury’s cousin was acting as a mediator when he was fatally stabbed just hours after watching Anthony Joshua fight Oleksandr Usuk.
After being “stabbed in the neck” outside a bar in Goose Green, Altrincham, Rico Burton, 31, died early on August 21.
He is understood to have been enjoying an evening out with friends when he was knifed in a ‘spontaneous’ and ‘unplanned’ attack outside the venue, Greater Manchester Police said yesterday.
Mr. Burton had been watching the heavyweight fight at a pub before going to another in Altrincham, where violence suddenly broke out, after the junior boxer reportedly stepped outside for a ‘straightener’.
Shaun Egan, who previously coached Rico alongside his brother Steve at Jimmy Egan’s Boxing Academy in Manchester, said: ‘From what I’ve heard it was just a bit of a scuffle. Some other guys were trying to get into a club and they wouldn’t let them in. The argument wasn’t with Rico, he was trying to calm it down. It was settled, then suddenly the guy stabbed them. It is unbelievable, so senseless.’
A witness added: ‘A few men were arguing outside and then suddenly two men were on the ground. It all happened so fast but no one knows what caused the fight.’
A 17-year-old boy was also found with stab wounds, with both victims receiving first aid from members of the public prior to the arrival of emergency services.
They were both were taken to Manchester Royal Infirmary, where Mr Burton died of his injuries, while the teenage boy remains in a serious but non-life threatening condition.
Two men, 21 and 20, have been arrested in connection with the attack. They both remain in police custody.
On Sunday, Fury made an emotional plea for tougher sentences for knife crime, calling on the Government to deal with the ‘pandemic’, while also paying tribute to his cousin.
Fury wrote on Instagram: ‘My cousin was murdered last night, stabbed in the neck, this is becoming ridiculous idiots carry knives.
‘This needs to stop. ASAP, the UK government needs to bring higher sentencing for knife crime, it’s a pandemic and you don’t know how bad it is until it’s one of your own!
‘Life is very precious and it can be taken away very quick enjoy every moment. RIP RICO BURTON. May the lord god grant you a good place in heaven. See you soon.’
In a police press conference on Sunday, Superintendent Ben Ewart said the attack was ‘senseless’, adding that the stabbing took place ‘spontaneously’ and was ‘unplanned’.
