A video has surfaced suggesting that Tyson Fury may be backing down from his fight against Oleksander Usyk in December, contradicting his previous statement.
Fury’s fight against Francis Ngannou was unexpected, with Ngannou knocking Fury down in the third round and leaving him bruised and cut.
Despite Fury’s comments in the video, Usyk’s camp has the 23rd of December marked on the calendar and insists that Fury cannot escape the fight.
A video has surfaced online which have led fans to suggest that Tyson Fury may be backing down from his highly anticipated fight against Oleksander Usyk in December.
In the video, which places two pieces of footage side-by-side, Fury appears to go back on his word. In the first video, the WBC world heavyweight champion was adamant that Usyk had to fight him in December. “He doesn’t have a choice. He signed the contract, so if he doesn’t, he’s breached contract, and he gets sued,” The Gypsy King said.
The fight between Fury and Usyk had apparently been scheduled for the 23rd of December to declare the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world as the fight would unify the WBC, WBO, WBA, and IBF heavyweight titles. However, after Fury edged past Francis Ngannou in a controversial split-decision victory, Frank Warren implied that the fight may have to be delayed: “Tyson’s got a cut there, so there’s no point setting a date while he’s got that cut on the top of his head. He’s going to rest up.. .then he’ll make his decision about what he wants to do because he’s the boss.”
However, in the next clip, Tyson, who is clearly bruised from his fight with Ngannou, seems to suggest that fans may not be seeing him again before the end of 2023. After claiming that he and Ngannou put on the fight of the century, Fury says to the camera: “See you all sometime next year. Have a good Christmas if I don’t see you and a Happy New Year.”
Fans have taken to social media to mock the switch up in Fury’s approach, having gone from saying that Usyk cannot back away from the fight in December, to himself saying that he won’t be fighting again this year after all. One user said: “Punched into Amnesia. In reality, Usyk would embarrass him,” while another called Fury a “con artist.”
Fury’s fight against Ngannou took fans and the boxing world by surprise as Ngannou, who had never before boxed professionally, knocked the world heavyweight champion down in the third round. One judge even had the ex-UFC fighter down as the winner with a scorecard of 95-94 in his favour. Ngannou certainly left his mark on the boxing ring, and on Fury, who was modelling a swollen and bruised left eye, as well as a cut on the top of his head as a result of a brutal left hook in the second round.
But, despite his comments and wishes to fans of a Happy New Year, Fury did say in the ring that he would be ready to fight his long-standing rival. Usyk himself then entered the ring in Riyadh, and reiterated his readiness to fight. “I’m going to be fighting him, amazing,” said the Ukrainian boxer.
According to Sky Sports, Usyk’s camp have the 23rd of December marked out on the calendar. “Fury underestimated his opponent,” said Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk. “Arrogance, lack of discipline, and thirst for money led to these kind of circumstances. But we have December 23 inked and Fury can’t escape that.”