Tyson Fury’s undisputed heavyweight unification bout with Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk has been rescheduled for May 18 after the February 17 date was called off in the wake of the British boxer suffering an accidental cut to his right eye in sparring on Friday.
WBC champion Fury was due to face WBA, IBF and WBO belt holder Usyk in Saudi Arabia – in an event dubbed ‘Ring of Fire’ – with the Briton saying that he was “devastated” by the accidental cut in sparring.
Fury and Usyk appeared on a dual-cast on the American sports show The MMA Hour With Ariel Helwani on Saturday evening, as well as Saudi Arabian minister Turki Alalshikh who discussed the new date for the fight, acting as arbiter and revealing the next moves, said: “I guaranteed to both fighters 10 million (dollars) if someone escapes from the fight. This is the first thing. The second thing is, I guarantee a big fight for the other one on that same night.”
“If Usyk is scared, I will call for Joshua vs Tyson. If Tyson is scared, I will call for any fighter that Usyk wants,” added Alalshikh. “This is in my name. We have a guarantee from both sides and they know it now. On May 18, we will have the answer whether someone is a coward.”
Fury also detailed the accident. “Yesterday morning sparring, arranged to spar 12 rounds with four different guys. In round five I got an elbow in the eye, been to the hospital and got 11 stitches – nothing much anything can do about cut in sparring, s— happens,” he added. “I was very disappointed, I’ve been in Saudi Arabia five weeks training and everything was going fantastic. It’s a cut that you can’t help and these things happen in camp sometimes.”
