Promoter Frank Warren fired back at critics of WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, who still question his eye-injury situation and doubt his courage to take on the unbeaten IBF/WBA/WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Warren says it’s “pathetic” that people doubt the courage of Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) to face Usyk (21-0,14 KOs), as he states that he’s fought Wladimir Klitschko and Deontay Wilder in the past, showing that he was willing to take tough tests.
Fury’s eye injury, which some fans believe did himself, has resulted in his clash against Usyk being postponed until May 18th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, giving Tyson more time to prepare for the fight.
Some believe the 35-year-old Fury, who has not looked sharp since his third fight with Wilder in 2021, needs more time due to the rumors of him getting worked over in training camp by his sparring partners.
Certainly, the form that Fury showed in the leaked video of his eye injury, where he’s got his left arm around the neck of his opponent to hold him in place while clubbing him with his free hand, looked bad. It reinforced fans’ belief that an aged, slowed Fury can only maul at this career stage.
Work Ethic and Unfair Accusations
“He worked hard in training camp [before the postponement], and that will serve him in some good stead because he’ll take a couple of weeks off because he was more or less peaking, and now he’s got to wind himself down a bit,” said promoter Frank Warren to talkSPORT Boxing, discussing Fury about his injury, causing the postponement of his fight against Usyk.
“This is a guy [Fury] who went to Germany [in 2015] to fight for a world title [against Wladimir Klitschko]. It’s pathetic, and people and professional fighters should know better,” said Warren, reacting to people doubting Fury, criticizing him, thinking he’s a coward for pulling out of his February 17th fight against Usyk with an injury they think he self-inflicted.
The Ngannou Test
“I think Tyson is the best heavyweight on the planet. In his last fight against Ngannou, he wasn’t at his best, but he came through and he won the fight. It was a fight where he was going into the unknown with everybody thinking it was going to be a walkover,” said Warren about Fury’s clash last October against ex-UFC champion Francis Ngannou.
