Dean Whyte says he didn’t even rise to John Fury as the Gypsy King’s father attempted to cause a confrontation with him on stage during Tyson Fury’s face-off with Dillian Whyte. Tensions briefly threatened to spill over following a surprisingly tame press conference as the two fighters were invited to go head-to-head for the first time by MC, Paul Dempsey.
Yet Fury, Whyte and Frank Warren were all forced to play peacekeepers when Fury Snr moved towards the Body Snatcher’s brother, Dean.
Now [Dean] Whyte has explained the confrontation and how it all surfaced, claiming he had zero interest in the drama.
He told iFL TV: “John wanted to fight me, I’m not sure what was going on. I was like, ‘mate, what are you doing?’
“Not being funny but you’re an old man, Fury’s Dad, I’m going to give you the respect, I’m not even going to entertain this.
READ MORE: Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte ‘prevented big ruckus’ between John Fury and Dean Whyte
“I said ‘Tyson, talk to this guy man’ and he said ‘Dad, what you doing?’
“We had a press conference, why are you tensing up and raring.
“I was with 40/50 guys, it’s not that kind of party and we’re not playing silly buggers here.
“I would just say ‘behave yourself’, he is the man’s dad, I’m not interested in that conversation.”
Fury Snr has since admitted that he was the man to blame before declaring he’d be willing to address any beef with his opposite number, should it be necessary.
“It was a case of my fault. Emotions run high, and I am a fighting man, even though I am old. I’m still game,” said [John]Fury to Queensbury Promotions. “Sometimes my head wants my body to do what my body can’t do.
“Listen, I’m up for anything. He [Dean Whyte] came up the stairs a little quick. I was watching him from the start, and I thought, ‘Okay, then, no problem. I stepped to him and he stepped to me and it nearly went off.
“That’s my makeup, and that’s why he’s [Fury] the heavyweight champion of the world. It took me hundreds of years of breeding to get to Tyson. Forget about me, I’m just bum squad.
“I’ll have a rattle with anybody. It doesn’t matter if it’s a win, loss or draw to me. I’ve had a lot of hiding and I’ll give a lot of hidings.
“Let’s talk about how Tyson handled himself today. A gentleman. Other people can cause problems. It’s not Dillian Whyte, he’s a pro, but people around him are not pros. A spark can cause a forest fire.
“Listen, I don’t see any reason for bad behaviour. You don’t need to grab anybody by the throat. If the big fella [Dean Whyte] has a problem with me, he can say, ‘Do you want to go out to the car park, just me and you. Let’s go out to the car park.’ We don’t need an audience. We’ll go at it.”