Fury’s ‘freak cut’ postpones Usyk heavyweight bout
Tyson Fury has been forced to postpone his unification fight with Oleksandr Usyk after the British heavyweight suffered a “freak cut” above his eye during a sparring session in Riyadh, Queensberry Promotions announced on Friday.
Fury’s World Boxing Council title and Ukrainian Usyk’s World Boxing Association, International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organisation belts were all set to be up for grabs in Saudi Arabia on February 17.
Instead, the wait to find heavyweight boxing’s first undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis in 2000 has been delayed to an unspecified date.
“I am absolutely devastated after preparing for this fight for so long and being in such superb condition,” said the undefeated Fury in a statement.
“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.”
Queensberry said the cut, above Fury’s right eye, “required urgent medical attention and significant stitching”.
“While this is still breaking news it is clearly a massive disappointment, after the work that has been done by so many people to finally deliver this historic event to the world,” added a Queensberry spokesperson.
“Once the doctors have appraised Tyson’s eye, we will have a better idea of the period of recovery needed.
Injured: Tyson Fury’s heavyweight unification bout against Oleksandr Usyk has been postponed by a cut he suffered while sparring
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“Once known we will work diligently with all the stakeholders and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to reschedule this fight as soon as possible.”
Fury was coming into the bout with the highly regarded Usyk following a controversial split-decision win over former mixed martial arts champion Francis Ngannou, who was making his boxing debut.
The 35-year-old Fury added on Instagram: “Can’t help getting injured in sparring but what I can say was Usyk was in trouble, I am in fantastic shape.
“I will reschedule soon as I can. 2024 a massive year for team GK [Gypsy King, Fury’s nickname].”