Friday was a seismic day in the dramatic world of heavyweight boxing – just not for the best of reasons.
We went into the day with the countdown to that Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk superfight ramping up after the release of that insane fight trailer. Within hours that would all change.
Late in the afternoon came the grim news that Fury had sustained ‘a freak cut’ while sparring on Friday morning, caused by an elbow per his promotional company Queensberry.
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These injuries are unavoidable in boxing – they happen – but that didn’t stop social media going into overdrive with conspiracy theory upon conspiracy theory.
Team Usyk meanwhile had strong words on the back of the news, with the Ukrainian’s manager Egis Klimas claiming to Sky Sports that Fury “will do anything to not face Usyk” before mockingly adding that maybe “he was hit by a frying pan which he asked for”.
Tyson Fury speaks out
Fury though hit back as he posted on Instagram, complete with a picture in which he looked in incredible shape just two weeks out from that planned February 17 fight night.
He made a short statement alongside the picture, in which he claimed it was USYK who was in trouble ahead of their big date – and not him.
“Cant help getting injured in sparring but what i can say was Usyk was in trouble i am in fantastic shape. i will resheduel soon as i can. 2024 a massive year for team GK #undisputed #wbcking”
Paris Fury: Tyson ‘p***ed off and disappointed’ after freak cut
There is another silver lining for Fury as he comes to terms with the unfortunate news – he’ll be back home for a very important date in the calendar…
Wife Paris responded to his Instagram post with the simple message: “Best boxer on the planet!! Your time will come. For now at least you’ll be home for Valentines ❤️”
Now we wait to find out how long the fight will be delayed on the back of Fury’s injury – which reportedly required 15 stitches.
The cut appears to be in the same area where he suffered that horrific gash during his win over Otto Wallin in September 2019. It was five months before he would return to dethrone Deontay Wilder as WBC champion in their Las Vegas rematch.
