“Tyson doesn’t want me to tell it.”
Tyson Fury has had a ‘secret’ about his sparring cut revealed by Saudi Arabian royal adviser Turki Alalshikh.
WBC champion Fury was due to face WBA, IBF and WBO belt holder Oleksandr Usyk in an undisputed heavyweight title fight in Saudi Arabia on February 17 – in an event dubbed ‘Ring of Fire’.
However, the bout was called off on Friday after Fury sustained a cut above his right eye during a sparring session.
Fury, Usyk and Alalshikh appeared on The MMA Hour With Ariel Helwani on Saturday evening to announce the fight had been rearranged for May 18.
Alalshikh also revealed that Usyk and Fury will receive a £10m payment from their opponent if they pull out of the new fight 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,” said Alalshikh.
“Make the people around the world know if someone is scared and wants to escape from this fight. May 18th – we will have Tyson vs Usyk.”
Alalshikh went on to claim that Fury originally intended to face Usyk on February 17, even after sustaining the cut in training.
“I want to tell you something that is a secret. Tyson doesn’t want me to tell it,” added Alalshikh.
“He wanted to fight on the 17th even with the cut and I said ‘I am not crazy to put you in the ring with this cut. It will be a circus, not a fight.'”
Alalshikh’s comments come after some questioned the timing of Fury’s cut, just two weeks out from original fight date.
Conspiracy theories circulated on social media after the fight was postponed, which claimed that Fury was intentionally trying to avoid facing Fury .
However, Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn was quick to dismiss those conspiracy claims and stated that setbacks like this are common in boxing.
“It looks like a bad cut,” Hearn told iFL TV.
Fury will now fight Usyk on May 18 (Image: Getty)
“I’ve seen in the footage that it’s an elbow or something like that. He spars with an open head guard, but he’s sparred thousands of rounds in his career.
“Even in my group chats with my mates saying, ‘That sounds fishy to me’, I’m like ‘Guys, what do you think? He’s not just going to go out and carve himself open with a knife!’.
“He’s trained a whole camp, it’s two weeks away from a monster pay day and a fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship.
“It’s not a hooky, it’s boxing, it happens, but it’s devastating that it happens to a fight of that magnitude.”
Meanwhile, Alalshikh said Fury would have no excuses if he refused to fight Usyk in May.
“Even if he isn’t ready by the 18th, he will fight. I will accept it because we have a deadline with the IBF,” added Alalshikh.
“I don’t want a headache with the IBF. We have a contract, a deadline – we will deliver this fight.”
