Tyson Fury has pulled out of his fight with Oleksandr Usyk due to a sparring cut, leading to a chorus of ‘I told you so’ statements.
The undisputed heavyweight title battle, the first in a quarter of a century, was set for Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, on February 17. However, judging by the reaction, many are not surprised.
Fury, who had been the subject of reports Jai Opetaia had knocked him out in sparring, is now set for weeks on the sidelines.
Fury vs Usyk is off
TNT Sports, one of the broadcasters, said: “Tyson Fury’s undisputed heavyweight championship clash with Oleksandr Usyk on February 17 has been postponed after Fury suffered a cut above his eye during a sparring session today.”
Usyk will be livid as learning what has transpired and may now be forced to defend his unified title on the date in a mandatory capacity. This scenario is too early to speculate about, as media and fans groan at the fact the inevitable has happened.
During the build-up, Fury had promised not to leave Usyk in the lurch.
“All this talk of Tyson Fury is scared and he doesn’t want to fight. Yes, it’s happening. Unless your man pulls out, it’s happening. The only person who will pull out is you guys [Usyk and his team],” assured Fury.
Furthermore, former world champion Shawn Porter was one of those higher-profile names who thought Fury would drop out.
No surprise
“Don’t be surprised if something comes up with the WWE before this,” Porter said on his podcast. “I think that there’s a lot of pluses for Tyson Fury. But I just don’t see him being able to look at those pluses and feel like ‘hey, I’m going to win that fight, I’m going to beat him.’
“We know that Tyson Fury is a showman. What we know about Tyson Fury is he likes things to be his way or no way. Me personally, I don’t feel like this is the kind of energy he [Fury] wants to exert anymore in the boxing ring, which is why he went after Francis Ngannou. Those are the kind of fights he’s looking for.
“The things that will give him the money and the recognition. The nights that he won’t have to trade hard for.”
When hearing the announcement, Porter stated: “I told you all we wouldn’t see Fury vs Usyk.”
In addition, Turki Alalshikh will be disappointed if the event cannot go ahead as planned. Fury vs. Usyk was an integral part of the Riyadh Season calendar.
The views expressed in this article are the opinions of experienced boxing writer Phil Jay.
