British heavyweight Dave Allen says he’s not upset about the Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk fight not happening on February 17th because he says it had failed to attract much interest.
The fight lacked any real spark, and Allen believes fans may have lost interest in the 35-year-old Fury.
Certainly, his last performance against Francis Ngannou would be one reason, but Tyson’s lack of high-caliber competition in the last five years hasn’t helped.
WBC heavyweight champion Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) suffered a cut over his right eye during yesterday’s sparring. The injury could keep him out through the summer before he’s fit for battle.
Allen states that he never thought the Fury-Usyk clash would occur in the first place. He doesn’t say why, but many boxing fans believe Fury feared losing to Usyk and would find a way out of the fight.
Lackluster Public Interest?
“I’m not really upset about it, really. The fight [Fury vs. Usyk] hasn’t really caught the imagination like it should. Maybe people aren’t as interested in Fury as before. I wasn’t really overly bothered,” said David Allen to iFL TV, reacting to Fury’s eye injury causing his fight against Usyk to be postponed.
Fans on social media echo Allen’s view of not being overally bothered by Fury coming up lame with an injury and needing to be pulled out of the fight.
They either don’t like the match-up or have lost interest in Fury, who seems only focused on feathering his retirement nest egg at this stage of his career.
Doubts About the Fight Ever Happening
“I know it was a shame, but I’m personally not [bothered]. I never thought it was going to happen, and I’m not sure that it ever will,” Allen continued about the Fury vs. Usyk clash, stating that he had always had doubts the two champions would fight.
“It was one of those fights that was destined never to happen. It doesn’t look like a good one [Fury’s cut], and that has got to heal fully before they take the chance of sparring again.
“That’s going to take some time, and then they’re going to go back into a 12-week camp again. You’re looking at the end of the summer [late September], really, before you can reschedule.
“Usyk is going to fight again. Usyk isn’t getting any younger. He’s fantastic, but at 37, he’s slowing down,” said Allen.
