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This is the moment Prince Harry beamed as he announced the birth of son Archie five years ago today – just months before Megxit.

Today the Californian-based royals will be celebrating their eldest child’s fifth birthday at their Montecito home.

In a gushing video, a very happy Duke of Sussex announced to the world that their little boy had been born at 5.26am on May 6 2019, weighing 7lb 3oz.

Reassuring the public that both mother and baby are ‘doing well’ he said being at the birth – which he joked was ‘his first’ was ‘absolutely incredible’, adding: ‘How any woman does that, what they do is beyond comprehension.’

Little did the British public know that only seven months later, Harry and his wife Meghan Markle would step down from their role as senior royals before departing to Canada in March 2020.

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This is the moment Prince Harry beamed as he announced the birth of son Archie five years ago today – just months before Megxit

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Little did the British public know that only seven months later, Harry and his wife Meghan Markle would step down from their role as senior royals before departing to Canada in March 2020

In the year’s that followed, their has been considerable fallout between the couple and the rest of the royal family following on from the couple’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, their Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan as well as the Duke’s memoir Spare.

Despite this, King Charles, who last saw his second son in January after Harry flew over following his father’s shocking cancer diagnosis, is set to reach out to Archie to wish him a happy birthday, a royal expert claimed.

Tom Quinn said that despite all the unease between the UK-based royals and the couple, who now permanently live in the Californian enclave with their two young children, the monarch is ‘desperate’ to have a relationship with Archie and Lilibet.

‘If he makes an ordinary telephone call to Harry it means he can have a quick word with Archie without the need to talk to Meghan,’ Mr Quinn told the Mirror.

Prince Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor was born at 5.26am in a room adorned with electric candles and a picture of Princess Diana.

Initial pictures released two days later showed him being introduced to the late Queen and Prince Philip – his great-grandparents – and Doria Ragland, his grandmother.

Speaking from Windsor on the day his son was born, Prince Harry delightedly said that Archie’s birth was ‘the most amazing experience I could ever have possibly imagined.’

‘We’re both absolutely thrilled and so grateful to all the love and support of everybody out there, it’s been amazing so I just wanted to share this with everybody,’ he said five years ago today.

‘Still thinking about names but, yeah, the baby is a little overdue so we’ve had a little bit of time to think about it – but that’s the next bit.

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Prince Archie, who turns five today, seen with his parents Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and his younger sister Lilibet in 2021

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Prince Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor weighed 7lb 3oz and was born at 5.26am in a room adorned with electric candles and a picture of Princess Diana

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Archie is seen sitting on his father’s shoulders in an image that was revealed in Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentary

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Archie walks along the beach with his mother and their pet beagle, Guy

‘We’ll be able to see you in two days’ time as planned and be able to share it with you as a family and share it with you guys and so everyone can see the baby.’

‘I haven’t been at many births, this is definitely my first birth – it was amazing, absolutely incredible and as I said, I’m so incredible proud of my wife and as every father and parent would ever say, your baby is absolutely amazing, so this little thing is absolutely to die for so I’m over the moon.’

Because of the royal rift, however, Archie only spent the first five months of his life within the UK, meaning that the US feels like ‘home’ for the young boy, as his father said previously.

Details of Archie’s gilded life with his younger sister Lilibet, two, were revealed in Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentary series last year.

He was seen chasing seagulls at the beach, helping his parents pick oranges in the garden and playing with his two beloved family dogs – Labrador Pula and a Beagle called Guy.

Archie was previously revealed to be attending pre-school and is set to start full-time education when he turns six. He could also be enrolled in kindergarten in the autumn now that he is five.

When Meghan was in labour at the private Portland Hospital, Harry revealed that he used the laughing gas meant for his wife to calm his nerves, and said the couple’s bodyguards delivered them a takeaway Nando’s.

The pair also listened to songs by German artist Deva Premal, who turned Sanskrit mantras into music, during the delivery.

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Archie plays with a toy grand piano in an image that was revealed in Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentary

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Archie with his mother Meghan on his first birthday in 2020. He turned five today

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Archie with his mother during her royal tour of South Africa with her husband Prince Harry

When the contractions quickened, Meghan hopped in a bathtub to deliver the baby and had an epidural to help with the pain of labour.

Harry said he held Meghan’s hand as she pushed to deliver Archie, and revealed she had a complicated birth, describing his son’s head as being ‘tangled’.

Once Archie was born, both his parents wept with joy. His first home was Frogmore Cottage near Windsor Castle.

A clip from the Netflix series showed him gazing up to his father from a baby rocker, whilst a photo showed him gazing up at his nanny Lorren Khumalo, who had wrapped him in a yellow and brown cloth – traditional in Zimbabwe.

Another emotive clip of the young royal showed Archie reaching to touch a photo of his late grandmother Princess Diana on his nursery wall in Frogmore Cottage.

Meghan was hear saying: ‘Who’s that? Hey grandma.’

In October 2019, Prince Harry and Meghan announced that they would be taking six weeks off royal duties for some ‘family time’ with their newborn.

They travelled to Canada, staying for a period on Vancouver Island.

By January the follow year, however, the pair said they would ‘step back as senior members of the Royal Family’ splitting their time between the UK and North America.

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Harry and Meghan show baby Archie to his great-grandparents, the late Queen and Prince Philip, and his maternal grandmother Doria Ragland

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Archie on the day of his christening in July 2019 with his parents and (from left to right) Queen Camilla, King Charles, Doria Ragland, Lady Jane Fellowes, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales

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Baby Archie seen in the arms of his grandmother Doria Ragland as she sits alongside Meghan and Harry at Frogmore Cottage

By March 2020, just before the pandemic sent many parts of the world into lockdowns, the couple and their young son had moved to Los Angeles.

In July that year, they moved into their Santa Barbara home, in Montecito, which reportedly cost them $14 million.

The home is close to their celebrity friend Oprah Winfrey, as well as other showbiz stars such as Ellen DeGeneres, Katy Perry and her husband Orlando Bloom.

Harry and Meghan’s 11-bed mansion sprawls over 20 acres of land, between the Santa Ynez mountains and the Pacific Ocean.

On June 4, 2021, the family welcomed Archie’s younger sister Lilibet, who will turn three in less than a month.

In an interview with The Cut magazine, Meghan told how Archie enjoyed pretending to be a doctor with a toy stethoscope and said one of his favourite things to eat is a quesadilla.

Other footage from the Netflix series shows the young royal showing off his musical talent, tinkling away on a tiny piano.

He is also seen calling a sunset ‘beautiful’ and watching a hummingbird with his father.

‘We won’t get a chance to be this close to hummingbirds ever again,’ Prince Harry told his son.

Despite asking his toddler to stay quiet and watch the wildlife, the toddler then exclaimed: ‘I’ve got a dirty foot mama because I was with you!’

When his great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022, Archie and Lilibet remained in California and were cared for by their maternal grandmother, Doria Ragland, and their nannies.

Prince Archie is not believed to have spent any birthdays with his British family.

Before Archie’s arrival, Meghan had a glitzy New York shower hosted by Serena Williams at The Mark, a plush uptown hotel.

Guests including Amal Clooney and Gayle King enjoyed a flower-arranging class.

The five-day celebration, which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, provoked criticism when it emerged that Meghan had flown to New York on a private jet.

The is the moment Prince Harry chuckles as he is asked whether he is happy to be home during his whistle-stop trip to the UK.

The Duke of Sussex will give a speech at St Paul’s Cathedral to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games after he was ‘snubbed’ by his father following his arrival in the UK.

He was captured leaving an event in Central London yesterday strolling towards a black Range Rover.

The smartly dressed prince smiled as he said hello and waved at onlookers. Walking with a black folder under his arm, he nervously chuckled as he was asked if he was happy to be home. He dodges the question and says in response: ‘Nice to see you.’

It comes after Harry admitted that his father King Charles was too busy to see him this week.

After weeks of speculation about a reunion, his spokesman announced stiffly that a meeting ‘will not be possible due to His Majesty’s full programme’.

Harry tried to put a brave face on the situation, saying he understood his father’s position and ‘hopes to see him soon’. But the news will have come as a crushing blow to the prince, who told US television in February he hoped Charles’s illness could ‘reunify’ the Royal Family.

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Prince Harry waves at onlookers as he walks with a black folder under his arm yesterday. Asked if he was happy to be home he nervously chuckles and says in response: ‘Nice to see you’

While Harry was just three miles – or a 25-minute drive away – on an engagement in east London yesterday, Charles met the prime minister of the Republic of Fiji at Buckingham Palace, before retiring to Clarence House.

Today he again has meetings at Buckingham Palace in the morning before attending the first royal garden party of the season in the afternoon, followed by his weekly audience with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and a Privy Council meeting well into the evening.

His spokesman said: ‘In response to the many inquiries and continued speculation on whether or not the duke will meet with his father while in the UK this week, it, unfortunately, will not be possible due to His Majesty’s full programme.

‘The duke of course is understanding of his father’s diary of commitments and various other priorities and hopes to see him soon.’

Royal aides have repeatedly declined to comment on anything to do with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for fearing of triggering yet another war of words across the Atlantic.

However, just hours after Harry’s statement, palace officials blithely announced a new joint engagement for Charles and his eldest son William.

It is one of dozens of official engagements being planned for the 75-year-old monarch in the coming months after his doctors gave him the all-clear to undertake more public work once again while continuing his cancer treatment.

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King Charles III leaving Windsor Castle yesterday

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Prince Harry at the Honourable Artillery Company in London yesterday

Tomorrow he is expected at an as-yet unannounced engagement outside London. It is not believed that Harry was encouraged to put out a statement himself because there is little in the way of communications between the palace and his people.

But it no doubt became clear the continued speculation about family relations would continue to overshadow the work he has come here to do.

The 39-year-old prince, who remains fifth in line to the throne despite quitting royal duties and the UK, is in London for several days for engagements centred around the Paralympic-style Invictus Games, which he founded in 2014 for injured service personnel.

Yesterday he attended an event to mark the legacy of the games and today will give a reading at a St Paul’s Cathedral service to mark the event’s tenth anniversary. Media close to the Sussexes had suggested he also ‘fervently’ wished to see his father while he was here.

Harry has travelled alone, apart from his personal security guards, after claiming he does not feel safe bringing his family to the UK amid a continuing row with the Home Office following its decision to strip him of his round-the-clock Metropolitan Police protection when he left Britain.

He managed to fly into the country unobserved and his arrival came to light only when media favourable to the Sussexes were tipped off that he was attending a private panel discussion with TV presenter Louise Minchin at the Honourable Artillery Company.

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Prince Harry onstage at an Invictus Games event yesterday

He was said by sources to have had further sessions in the afternoon – including meeting business chief Sir Keith Mills, the former Invictus Games chairman – followed by a private dinner.

It has not been confirmed whether he came in on a scheduled, commercial flight, or flew by private jet from his home in California, or indeed where he is staying.

However it is not believed to be in a royal residence. Harry has as no official home in the country after being asked to leave Frogmore, his and Meghan’s Windsor home.

He is understood to have been staying in hotels or with friends during his occasional visits.

According to reports, he plans to remain in the UK until tomorrow before flying to Nigeria where he will meet up with his wife for a quasi-royal tour, ostensibly to highlight the Invictus Games as well.

Harry had not seen his father in person for 17 months before insisting he would fly to London in February after news of his cancer diagnosis was publicly announced.

The King, who had been in London and undergoing treatment for his undisclosed form of cancer, was about to leave to recuperate at Sandringham and was able to see him only for around half an hour.

The Duchess of Sussex has previously claimed that she ‘didn’t know what she was doing’ the first time she had to learn to curtsey as she met the Queen in 2016. However, it’s been revealed she’s previously performed the move in the legal drama Suits

Meghan Markle’s anecdote about how she was hurriedly taught how to curtsey for the Queen by Sarah Ferguson has been slammed by critics as a lie.

The former Suits actress has been ‘outed’ by royal critics, after a scene from the legal drama has emerged showing the Duchess of Sussex bobbing into a curtsey years before she met and wed Prince Harry.

However, the actress has claimed she was taught to curtsey in her Netflix series alongside husband Prince Harry, as they discussed the moment that Meghan met Harry’s grandmother the Queen.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle discuss teaching Meghan to curtsey in their Netflix docu-series ( 
Image:
Netflix)
In the docuseries, Meghan explained: “I mean. it’s surreal. There wasn’t like some big moment of ‘Now you’re gonna meet my grandmother’. I didn’t know I was going to meet her until moments before. We were in the car and we were going to the Royal Lodge for lunch, and he [Harry] was like, ‘Oh, my grandmother is here, she’s gonna be there after church.’ I remember we were in the car, driving and he’s [Harry] like, ‘You know how to curtsy, right?’. And I just thought it was a joke.”

Prince Harry added: “How do you explain that to people? How do you explain that you bow to your grandmother? And that you would need to curtsy, especially to an American. That’s weird.”

The couple then continue as they speak to the camera, and Meghan continued: “Now I’m starting to realise this is a big deal. I mean, Americans will understand this. We have Medieval Times dinner and tournament. It was like that. Like, I curtsied as though I was like… ‘Pleasure to meet you your Majesty.’ It was so intense. And then when she left, Eugenie and Jack and Fergie say ‘you did great!’. Thanks. I didn’t know what I was doing.”

Harry also claims that Meghan was ‘taught’ how to curtsey by his aunt Sarah, as he wrote in his 2023 memoir ‘Spare’ that when learning Meghan might meet his grandmother the Queen, he asked if she knew how to curtsey to which the Suits actress responded saying she ‘thought so’. Turning to relatives, Harry asked his aunt Sarah Ferguson to help alongside cousin Eugenie and her husband Jack Brookbanks. He wrote:”Fergie came outside, somewhat aflutter, and said: Do you know how to curtsy? Meg shook her head. Fergie demonstrated once. Meg imitated her.”

Sarah Ferguson reportedly taught Meghan to curtsey, which has now been criticised as some claim it’s a lie ( 
Image:
Getty)
Yet after claims in their Netflix series and in Harry’s autobiography that this was the moment Meghan learned how to curtsey, critics have slammed it as a lie as they point out a scene from Suits where Meghan is seen to be curtseying. After the clip was shared on social media, one fan branded her “a fraud”. Another savagely said: “Come on guys! She “forgot” she had curtsied in the show. Just like she “forgot” she dictated the book to Omid.”

Tyson Fury is in training camp ahead of his undisputed clash against Oleksandr Usyk.

Boxing fans are worried for Tyson Fury after training footage emerged online ahead of his blockbuster fight against Oleksandr Usyk.

Fury meets Usyk in a big undisputed showdown on May 18 following the postponement of their February clash.

The WBC, WBA (super), WBO and IBF world heavyweight titles will be on the line when the two heavyweight stars collide in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Fury is back in training camp after a nasty cut forced him to withdraw last month.

Footage of the self-proclaimed ‘Gypsy King’ in preparation for his fight against Usyk has surfaced online.

And fight fans are concerned for the unbeaten British star, who went through his paces in a strength and conditioning session. Check it out below:

The clip shows him on sled pushes and performing squats, leaving people on social media unimpressed.

One X user wrote: “Oh crap he looks awful. Please let him beat Usyk.”

A second tweeted: “That is genuinely some of the least impressive jumping up and down I’ve ever seen.”

A third added: “He looks like it’s first ever time in a gym every time.”

Another commented: “He jumps up and down like a toddler.”

Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk go head-to-head in a pre-fight press conference. Image: Getty

Fury hasn’t fought since his underwhelming victory over former UFC champion Francis Ngannou last October.

He beat Dereck Chisora in the last defence of his WBC title as he looks collect the other three belts in the division.

If he beats Usyk, then an all-British showdown against Anthony Joshua could be next.

Joshua brutally stopped Ngannou earlier this month, but his victory didn’t impress Fury.

“I’m still dismissive of him,” he said. “AJ’s made to measure for me. Just because he knocked out Francis Ngannou – it’s not the same. He couldn’t land any of those rights on Usyk, a way smaller and lighter man. Styles make fights and his style is made for me.”

Tyson Fury has his say on Mike Tyson fighting Jake Paul.

Tyson Fury held nothing back as he gave a shock prediction for Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul.

Tyson is set to face Paul at AT&T Stadium on July 20 in a bout that will be aired on Netflix.

It will be the boxing legend’s first appearance since his exhibition against Roy Jones Jr back in November 2020.

As for Paul, he makes a swift return to the ring, having recorded a big win over Ryan Bourland earlier this month.

The match-up pitting Tyson against Paul has been widely condemned by fans and critics alike in the combat sports world.

UFC boss Dana White pulled no punches as he shared his honest thoughts on ‘Iron’ Mike coming back.

Former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland destroyed Paul for facing Tyson in an astonishing rant.

Joe Rogan, however, has backed Tyson to beat Paul.

And Fury has echoed the same sentiment, giving a shock prediction.

The self-proclaimed ‘Gypsy King’ has supported Tyson returning to the sport and calls his against Paul an ‘even match’.

Speaking to The Stomping Ground, he said: “I think it’s fantastic for boxing.

“You’ve got a legend in Mike Tyson. You’ve got a YouTube boxer [Jake Paul]. He has come into the game and blew it up and he’s got millions of followers and millions of views and millions of eyes. Good, bad or indifferent. Some people love him, some people hate him.

“So, I think it’s a really good spectacle for boxing. Brings a lot of people to the game.”

Tyson Fury at Old Trafford for Manchester United vs. Liverpool. Image: Getty

Fury added: “Listen, who am I to say, ‘Oh, Mike Tyson shouldn’t be boxing or Jake Paul shouldn’t be boxing’, good luck to ’em. They’re both gonna make what I call a sh*t ton of money out of it. So, isn’t that what it’s about?

“[They’re fighting at] a great stadium,” Fury referenced AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys.

“It’d be fantastic for the guys both getting paid, both gonna put on a show. I just don’t know what’s not to like. Oh, okay, [Tyson’s] 57 years old, but he’s a former undisputed world heavyweight king, and [Paul] plays computers for a living and he’s come to boxing about a year ago. So, pretty even match.

“From being a kid on the Disney Channel to fighting Mike Tyson. Who wouldn’t want to do that?… People say, ‘Oh, it’s sh*t’, this, that and the other.

“But, I bet they still watch it. Who’s not intrigued?”

The Fury vs Usyk undercard is official.

The undercard for Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk has been officially confirmed – and not all fans are happy.

Fury was due to fight Usyk in a unified heavyweight title clash on February 17, but was forced to withdraw two weeks out from the fight after suffering a cut above his eye in sparring.

The bout was rescheduled for May 18, and will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Usyk’s promoter, Alex Krassyuk, stated that he had ‘no guarantee’ over whether the fight will actually take place, given Fury’s earlier withdrawal.

But the fight date has been set, and the undercard has now been confirmed by TNT Sports.

The undercard will be headlined with Jai Opetaia’s rematch against Mairis Breidis for The Ring cruiserweight title – a match that was due to take place on the original Fury vs Usyk card.

Moses Itauma and Joe Cordina are also on the card, while Agit Kabayel vs Frank Sanchez will also take place on the night in Riyadh.

Elsewhere, the card will also see the return of Russian fighter Sergey Kovalev, who has boxed only once since suffering an 11th-round knockout defeat to Canelo Alvarez in November 2019.

You can see the full undercard below.

However, the undercard hasn’t filled some fans with much excitement for the event.

One wrote: “What a terrible undercard. Surely there are better, more well-known bouts around?????”

A second said: “That undercard is one of the worst I’ve seen especially for a fight this big.”

A third bluntly stated: “Who are most of these boxers? I like to think I know a bit about boxing but most of them I’ve never heard of.”

However, some fans were more positive, with one writing: “Good to see Moses Itauma is on it, definitely another win for him.”

And a second said: “I would love to see Kabayel vs Sanchez.”

A third wrote: “Great undercard.. Opetaia, Cordina, Kovalev, Kabayal.”

And a fourth commented: “People saying this is a terrible card, it really isn’t. Four quality fights right there. I think it’s a decent card!”

Tyson Fury is set to fight Oleksandr Usyk in May.

Tyson Fury has been told he risks being disqualified during his much-anticipated fight against Oleksandr Usyk.

Originally, the pair were due to fight in February but the bout was called off after Fury suffered a cut above the eye during a sparring session.

As a result, the fight was rescheduled to take place on May 18 at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Ahead of the fight, Fury has been warned by his former opponent Steve Cunningham that he could be disqualified against Usyk.

He told World Boxing News: “I believe Ngannou only looked as good as he did fighting Fury because Fury didn’t take fighting an MMA guy seriously. Ngannou does have unbelievable power, though. He landed a clean shot on Fury, who wasn’t in shape at all. I was surprised at that but not at the fact that Fury got up and outpointed him.

“I think Usyk wins by decision against Fury. Either that or Fury gets disqualified. Fury’s going to have to lean and lay all over Usyk to tire him down as he does usually. I think the referee will be alerted to this before the fight [by team Usyk] and Fury will lose points.”

It has been expected that if Fury manages to beat Usyk, a fight against fellow Brit Anthony Joshua could finally happen.

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Speaking about a potential bout with Joshua, Fury previously said: “I’m sure that Oleksandr Usyk will have something to say about that given he beat him twice.

“For the actual real boxing, it’s me and Usyk who fight for the undisputed heavyweight world championship of the world. I had a s*** performance against Ngannou, that’s what a boxer should have done with him, but if he fights next year it’ll be a different game.”

Last time out, Fury had to dig deep to get the better of former UFC champion Francis Ngannou, with the boxing champion coming out on top via decision.

Fury vs Usyk takes place on May 18.

Tyson Fury has been tipped to withdraw from his upcoming fight against Oleksandr Usyk by a British former boxing star.

Fury and Usyk will do battle in a heavyweight title unification clash on May 18, with the bout taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

It had to be rescheduled after ‘The Gypsy King’ suffered a cut above his eye during sparring in February, meaning he was unable to fulfil the original date.

Fury has already held a press conference ahead of the event, in which he unveiled his training camp plans and confirmed that father John will be part of his preparations.

But despite his intense preparations beginning to get underway, he has been surprisingly tipped to potentially withdraw.

That’s the view of British former super-middleweight champion George Groves, who retired from professional boxing in 2018.

Groves told Betway: “I’ve said since the start – I’ll believe it [the fight] when I see it.

“I don’t think Fury has ever fancied the Usyk fight. He’s talking about having 10 more fights, but if he loses to Usyk how does that work?

“It’s a massive risk for him to fight Usyk. He’s probably really hoping that Usyk can’t take a body shot.

“[After the cut] I thought to myself, ‘I bet Fury would rather have a bit of Anthony Joshua than Usyk, because he’ll see that as an easier fight.

“That [versus Joshua] is the fight everyone really wants to see. I don’t believe if he pulls out [of the Usyk fight] he’s going to have to pay a $10 million fine.

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“Usyk is probably thinking, ‘I don’t know if this guy is going to show up’, because there’s still a chance Fury pulls out.”

However, while announcing the new fight date, Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Alalshikh sent a warning to both fighters about withdrawing from the bout.

He said: “If Usyk is scared, I will call for Joshua vs Tyson.

“If Tyson is scared, I will call for any fighter Usyk wants, and it’s my name on this thing. We have a guarantee from both sides, and they know it now.”

Oleksandr Usyk’s promoter has revealed who will replace Tyson Fury should he withdraw from their undisputed clash.

Oleksandr Usyk’s promoter fears Tyson Fury will withdraw from their undisputed clash and has named the replacement fighter should the British star pull out.

Fury vs. Usyk is less than a month away as the two heavyweight stars battle for undisputed status in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

They were supposed to clash in February until the self-proclaimed ‘Gypsy King’ suffered a cut in sparring, prompting him to back out.

And Alexander Krassyuk, who looks after Usyk’s boxing career, isn’t convinced Fury will turn up to fight on May 18.

“Usyk has actually had a triple camp for this fight,” Krassyuk explained.

“He started in September for the fight to take place last December.

“We showed up to the Ngannou fight to step in the ring to announce the fight for the undisputed, but his team jumped and said he didn’t look that good, so Usyk gave him some space to prepare at his camp in Saudi Arabia.

“We were then meant to fight on Feb 17, then we were rescheduled for May.”

He added: “Tyson Fury has withdrawn four times already from this fight.

“Remember that we were looking to fight last April; he pulled out of it then, too.

“That’s why we fought Daniel Dubois. This will be the fourth camp we have had for Tyson Fury.

“I’ve not got too much confidence in the rematch happening, by the way. If Tyson Fury loses, will he have the confidence to step inside the ring again?

“Theoretically he can, but we all know what happened in the rematch with Wladimir Klitschko.”

Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk face off. Image: Getty

If Fury is forced to withdraw again, then Team Usyk have an opponent lined up to take his place.

Krassyuk claims Filip Hrgovic will be drafted in to face the undefeated Ukrainian.

Hrgovic is scheduled to meet Daniel Dubois on June 1, but he will get the call up for the undisputed showdown should anything happen to the WBC title holder.

“The IBF mandatory Filip Hrgovic will be the replacement if [Fury] does it again,” Krassyuk revealed.

“He is getting ready for Daniel Dubois on June 1, but instead he will have to be ready on May 18 to replace Tyson for any reason.

“Otherwise we will lose the [IBF] title. It was one of our conditions.

“The game is about being undisputed. It’s not about money – it’s about heritage, about glory.

“Tyson Fury says he doesn’t care about that, but at the press conference he was saying, ‘Wow, the IBF, the WBO, the WBC, the WBA, the Ring Magazine, the undisputed, the lineal’, which I’ve never heard of.”

Tyson Fury is preparing to face Oleksandr Usyk in an undisputed heavyweight title fight on May 18.

Tyson Fury will be forced to pay a huge fee to Oleksandr Usyk if he withdraws from their upcoming fight at late notice.

Fury, 35, is due to face Usyk, 37, on May 18 in an undisputed heavyweight title fight in Saudi Arabia.

It was originally due to take place on February 17 but Fury was forced to withdraw from the bout after sustaining a cut above his eye during sparring.

Usyk’s promoter, Alexander Krassyuk, has expressed doubts over whether Fury will be ready for the rearranged fight and has claimed that Filip Hrgovic will be drafted in to face the undefeated Ukrainian if the ‘Gypsy King’ pulls out for a second time.

Hrgovic is scheduled to meet Daniel Dubois on June 1, but will get the call-up for the undisputed showdown should anything happen to the WBC title holder.

Oleksandr Usyk’s promoter exposes Tyson Fury on Instagram Live with old social media post
Credit: Instagram/@alex.krassyuk

“Usyk has actually had a triple camp for this fight,” Krassyuk said (via GB News).

“He started in September for the fight to take place last December. We showed up to the [Francis] Ngannou fight to step in the ring to announce the fight for the undisputed, but his team jumped and said he didn’t look that good, so Usyk gave him some space to prepare at his camp in Saudi Arabia.

“We were then meant to fight on Feb 17, then we were rescheduled for May.”

He added: “Tyson Fury has withdrawn four times already from this fight.

“Remember that we were looking to fight last April; he pulled out of it then, too. That’s why we fought Daniel Dubois. This will be the fourth camp we have had for Tyson Fury.

“I’ve not got too much confidence in the rematch happening, by the way. If Tyson Fury loses, will he have the confidence to step inside the ring again? Theoretically he can, but we all know what happened in the rematch with Wladimir Klitschko.”

Tyson Fury is preparing to face Oleksandr Usyk (Image: Getty)

Should Fury pull out of the fight, he could be forced to pay a huge fee as per the terms of staging the bout in Saudi Arabia.

During an episode of The MMA Hour With Ariel Helwani in February after the first fight was postponed, Saudi royal adviser Turki Alalshikh – the man responsible for bringing world-class boxing to the Gulf state – confirmed both fighters would be required to pay their opponent a huge sum if they pulled out of the second date.

“I guarantee both of the fighters £10m if someone escapes from the fight. This is the first thing, and the second thing – I guarantee a big fight on the same night for another one,” he added.

“Make the people around the world know if someone is scared and wants to escape from this fight.

“May 18 – we will have Tyson vs Usyk.”