A press conference was held by Tyson Fury and his team yesterday on Wednesday, April 10th, for reasons that are still unclear but is looking like an attempt to convince the public that he will not withdraw from his scheduled undisputed heavyweight bout with Oleksandr Usyk come May 18th. The most substantial portion of the press conference, which was held in Morecambe in the United Kingdom, was perhaps the revelation that Fury’s father, John Fury, would be joining his coaching staff to work alongside head coach SugarHill Steward.
Tyson Fury (34-0-1, 24 KO’s) and Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14 KO’s) had originally been scheduled to fight on February 17th, but an alleged eye injury that Fury suffered amidst his training camp forced the British fighter to withdraw from the planned heavyweight undisputed bout―resulting in the match being rescheduled to May 18th.
Public dissension arose on social media following Fury’s withdrawal, with many boxing fans and contemporaries believing Fury’s antics during negotiations with Usyk’s team earlier that year―which seemingly led to collapse of aforementioned negotiations―suggesting that Fury was faking his injury in order to pull out of the planned February 17th bout.
This was debunked shortly after, with General Entertainment Authority (GEA)―the main sponsor/benefactor of the heavyweight undisputed bout―chairman Turki Al-Sheikh appearing in a video alongside Tyson Fury to explain that the match would continue on May 18th. Additionally, a penalty of $10 million will be imposed on the fighter that withdraws so as to ensure that the heavyweight undisputed bout can commence without issues.
As it’s usual to hold press conferences the week leading up to a fight, or to introduce a fight that has been signed and scheduled several months before it occurs, yesterday’s presser was not required. Tyson Fury and his representatives, including his promoter Frank Warren, were present but did not reveal anything particularly interesting or new.
Most of the presser went into detail into Fury’s cut, offering no substantial deviation from the original story of Tyson Fury having suffered a cut by the hands of the sparring partner which forced the February 17th heavyweight undisputed bout to be moved to May 18th. Fury’s own training and motivation were also highlighted several times in what appeared to be attempts to convince the public he would be ready and fit to participate in his upcoming bout.
The most interesting part of the press conference was perhaps the revelation that John Fury, Fury’s father, had joined Fury’s coaching staff to train his son alongside American coach SugarHill Steward―who will continue to be Fury’s head coach. The addition does prompt some question marks, with John Fury’s only known coaching gigs to date pertaining to his sons―and Tyson Fury’s brothers―Tommy (10-0, 4 KO’s) and Roman Fury (4-0, 1 KO’s) who have yet to do anything substantial within the sport.
