TYSON Fury’s first coach and a friend of his cousin Rico Burton, who was stabbed to death at the weekend, paid tribute to him in an interview with GB News.
Steve Egan also called for a minimum 10-year prison sentence for anyone found carrying a knife.
Speaking from his gym in Wythenshawe in Manchester, he said: “Fantastic lad. Always up for a laugh, always smiling…just a proper personality and great lad.
“A fantastic boxer, he came here and won two national titles for us here. Knows his boxing really well – rare, not aggressive, just a boxer.
“He was very skillful, very sharp and – what can I say? We’re all devastated by the news.”
Asked about knife crime, he said: “It has gone crazy in this country now.
“We’re just going to do what we can, we have an anti-knife banner at the front of our gym.
“There’s a lot we can do apart from bring the kids into the gym, so they can be strong, how to look after themselves and teach them discipline, manners and respect.”
He added: “If you carry a knife you deserve 10 years and that will stop people carrying, well hopefully anyway.”
In an interview with Mark Longhurst, knife crime campaigner Julie Taylor said she agreed with harsher sentences for knife crime.
Ms Taylor, whose grandson Liam was killed after being stabbed, said: “Let’s get these sentences, we all want the same thing.
“Put them in a prison for life. Once they’ve done this, why should they have the right to life?
“Why should they be allowed televisions, mobile phones, and visitors? I truly believe that if you take away all those privileges, they would definitely think more and think, ‘oh, I don’t want to lose my entire life’.
“I don’t want to lose my family. They don’t care that they’ve destroyed our families. And it’s every single day, isn’t it?”
She added: “They should go to prison for a minimum of four years, then they should come out and be on a rehab programme for five years.
“There is money out there, everyone pleads poverty but there’s money somewhere to fund this.
“So if they’re caught in that five years, go back to prison – do this. Let’s get them back and into Army camps. Let’s get them working. Let’s get them doing something that keeps them occupied, because it’s getting worse day by day.”
