Tyson Fury was accused of ‘cyberbullying’ on Christmas Day but left one rival alone

It could be a difficult Christmas for . The self-proclaimed ‘Gypsy King’ has returned home from Saudi Arabia following his crushing rematch defeat to , seemingly shattering any remaining hopes he had of one day unifying the heavyweight division.

At 36, Fury’s future now looks in the balance, and the festive period could now be one of contemplation as promoters clamour for a long-awaited bout between him and , albeit without any belts on the line.

Regardless, Fury has undoubtedly lost his status as the No.1 heavyweight of his generation. And it’s far cry from Christmas two years ago, when such was his perceived dominance in the division he was even accused of bullying rivals with one festive joke.

Just three weeks after taking out Derek Chisora in London to retain his WBC title, he took to to share a photo of himself alongside other boxers, including David Haye, Joshua, Wladimir Klitschko, Dillian Whyte, and . But this was no ordinary image of world-famous fighters.

Fury was stood by a Christmas tree, surrounded by five children. However, the faces of the youngsters were photoshopped with the boxing quartet used instead, with Whyte in particular mocked as his head was placed on an apparent toddler that Fury was holding in his arms.

Just eight months previously, Fury had dismantled his British rival at Wembley Stadium, stopping him in the sixth-round of a one-sided contest. The Christmas ‘card’ brought about a mixed reaction from fans, with the Morecambe-man widely accused of ‘cyberbullying’ and hypocrisy having previously championed himself as an advocate for mental health awareness.

Some also questioned why the image included Haye and Joshua, neither of whom Fury had fought in his career. But most tellingly of all, there was no place on the picture for the man who has since inflicted on Fury his only professional defeats.

By December 2022, Usyk held three heavyweight belts having secured successive wins over Joshua. Fury however, was regularly dismissive over the prospect of the Ukrainian potentially unifying the division, scathing about his apparent lack of size and frequently referring to him as ‘the cruiserweight’.

It is unlikely we’ll see such a jovial Christmas Day gesture from Fury this time around. He’s been inactive on social media since his unanimous points defeat in Riyadh, in his post-match press conference.

His famous festive post could yet backfire further if he was to face ‘AJ’ and be beaten in 2025. It would mean him facing retirement having only actually conquered two of the five boxers he claimed to have been ‘daddy’ too.

As for Usyk, a man essentially regarded as impossible to intimidate, he’s unlikely to be fazed by any social media jibes anyway, having he was handed a “Christmas gift’ by the judges. “Uncle Frank, I think he is blind,” he hit back, while chuckling.

“If Tyson says it is a Christmas gift then OK, thank you God, not Tyson. Thank you to my team.”