TYSON FURY’S heavyweight showdown with Oleksandr Usyk has been postponed after the Gypsy King suffered a cut in training.
The £100million Fight of the Century will no longer take place on February 17, with Fury releasing an apology to fans desperate to see the long-awaited unification bout.
The 35-year-old picked up the injury while sparring on Friday.
The news leaves Fury’s future in the balance as:
Discussing his injury, Fury said: “I am absolutely devastated after preparing for this fight for so long and being in such superb condition.
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“I feel bad for everyone involved in this huge event and I will work diligently towards the rescheduled date once the eye has healed.
“I can only apologise to everyone affected including my own team, Team Usyk, the undercard fighters, partners, and fans as well as our hosts and my friends in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
A statement from Queensbury Promotions, who promote Fury, on Twitter added: “WBC Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury has been forced to postpone his fight with unified Champion Oleksandr Usyk after sustaining a freak cut during a sparring session in Riyadh.
“The cut, which opened above Fury’s right eye, required urgent medical attention and significant stitching, which will obviously require a period of recovery, scuppering any possibility of the fight with Usyk taking place on 17th February in Saudi Arabia.”
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Fury was set to face Usyk in a Saudi showdown, with four heavyweight titles on the line.
For the first time ever three major UK channels were set to battle for the viewing figures.
DAZN, Sky Sports and TNT Sports all purchased rights to the event, with a stellar line-up of hosts and pundits booked.
A fight between Usyk, 37, and Filip Hrgovic is now reportedly being explored for the date.
Tyson Fury’s statement in full
TYSON Fury has apologised to boxing fans after suffering a horrific cut to his eye in training.
Fury said: “I am absolutely devastated after preparing for this fight for so long and being in such superb condition.
“I feel bad for everyone involved in this huge event and I will work diligently towards the rescheduled date once the eye has healed.
“I can only apologise to everyone affected including my own team, Team Usyk, the undercard fighters, partners, and fans as well as our hosts and my friends in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
He also posted on instagram, with the caption: “Can’t help getting injured in sparring but what I can say was Usyk was in trouble.
“I am in fantastic shape. I will resheduel (sic) soon as i can. 2024 a massive year for team GK #undisputed #wbcking”
The Ukrainian’s representatives have been told that it may be “several months” until Fury is ready to compete.
Usyk has allegedly been “mullering” sparring partners in the build-up to the scheduled fight date, forcing them to quit.
Despite the noise surrounding the blockbuster bout, the 37-year-old has kept a level head.
He recently told Ring Magazine: “I really don’t think about Tyson Fury. I don’t look at the way he acts and what he does.
“Most of his opponents fell for it. I don’t. For me, I focus on how I am, and how I prepare for when I go into the ring.”
What does this mean for boxing?
The saddest thing is this didn’t really come as a surprise to the British boxing media, writes SunSport’s boxing correspondent Wally Downes.
Rumours of Fury struggling in sparring with cruiserweight King Jai Opetaia and teenage sensation Moses Itauma were rife.
It seemed unlikely that the Gypsy King would risk upsetting Turki Alalshikh and the Saudi paymaster.
But now the disaster has officially hit.
As recently as Friday afternoon, SunSport was being invited to Usyk’s secret European camp for a media day on February 6.
And there was the release of the mega-money promo that merged about eight Hollywood films and cost silly million pounds.
If it’s only a cut, there is the outside chance Fury can be back in a few weeks.
But we saw against Otto Wallin that he’s vulnerable to a bleed that needed months to recover.
When Fury was dropped and useless against Francis Ngannou in October – delaying the original undisputed decider – the money men behind the scenes created an incredible replacement with AJ vs Wallin.
And they could do something absolutely crazy to compensate now.
The clash was to be the first undisputed heavyweight title fight in over 25 years.
Rivals Fury and Usyk were initially set to go in a Riyadh Rumble on December 23.
But Team Fury pulled the plug on the fight after his lacklustre display in Fury’s split-decision victory against former UFC champion Francis Ngannou last October.
The champ’s sluggish performance prompted them to move the date back to February 17.
Now their promoters need to find a third date for the long-awaited showdown between the two undefeated heavyweights.
Saudi adviser Turki Alalshikh has announced that Riyadh will not replace Fury vs Usyk with a new main event and fans who have brought tickets will be refunded.
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An alternative would have been to find Usyk a new opponent, with Croatian Filip Hrgovic offering to step in, or bringing Anthony Joshua’s March 8 fight with Francis Ngannou forward by three weeks.
However, both those options are now off the table.
TYSON FURY VS OLEKSANDR USYK: ALL THE DETAILS YOU NEED AHEAD OF HUGE UNDISPUTED HEAVYWEIGHT BOUT
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
