The sports world has been looking forward to the mega boxing match between Tyson Fury and Aleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia for months. But two weeks before the long-awaited spectacle, the fight in Riyadh suddenly fell through.
Hammer before the boxing event of the year: The unification fight between the British Tyson Fury and the Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk scheduled for February 17th cannot take place as planned. Fury’s promoter Queensbury confirmed this on Friday evening.
Fury suffered a cut above his right eye during training on Friday. The cut was so deep that it had to be stitched.
“I’m absolutely devastated after preparing for this fight for so long and being in such great shape,” Fury is quoted by “ESPN” as saying: “I feel bad for everyone involved in this big event, and I will work diligently towards a new appointment as soon as the eye has healed.”
Fury apologizes to Usyk
When the long-awaited boxing spectacle will take place remains unclear for the time being.
Fury said: “I can only apologize to everyone affected, including my own team, Team Usyk, the fighters, partners and fans in the opening act, as well as our hosts and my friends in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
Last week, rumors spread that Fury had fallen to the ground in training against his sparring partner Jai Opetaia – who is actually scheduled to fight in the preliminary fight against Mairis Briedis for the cruiserweight title on February 17th.
It wasn’t until mid-November that Fury and Usyk agreed on February 17th. The Brit (35 fights, 34 wins, one draw) wanted to be crowned undisputed world champion against the Ukrainian WBA, WBO and IBF champion (21 fights, 21 wins). Lennox Lewis last achieved this status in 1999. At that time, the holder of the WBA, WBC and IBF belts was considered undisputed.