Tyson Fury pulled out of Oleksandr Usyk fight after prank went wrong in training
Tyson Fury pretended to thrust his crotch at sparring partner Agron Smakici, only to be cut by the Croatian and forced to pull out of his Oleksandr Usyk fight.
Heavyweight champion Fury was supposed to fight Usyk this Saturday in Saudi Arabia but pulled out after being cut over his right eye in sparring. Smakici has now revealed that Fury was joking around during their sparring and thinks he earned the Brit's respect after accidentally landing an elbow that left him needing 11 stitches.
“He did it but it was a joke and I didn’t take it seriously, I was not angry, because he was laughing, he is funny. He is a comedian. “Yes it made me a little more serious, it made me want to show him what I had. It was a clean punch and the elbow was not on purpose, I was just trying to give him better rounds and to show him that I deserved respect," Smakici told The Sun.
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“I got that respect in the sparring and afterwards he said ‘great sparring, accidents happening, everything before was great’. Crazy things like this happen in boxing. “He made jokes like ‘let’s go little sausage’ but he was very motivated, dancing in the ring and using his reach a lot."
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Smakici has insisted that Fury's entourage weren't angry at him despite cancelling the undisputed fight and he wants to help the Brit prepare for the rescheduled meeting on May 18. Most of his sparring with Fury was taking place in the evening and Smakici questioned a sudden change that saw him sparring the Brit in the mornings.
“I felt the spar was too early,” Smakici added. “That’s just my opinion. We had been sparring in the evenings, around 8-9pm, to be ready for the fight. But suddenly we were sparring at midday and still having breakfast at 11am. The day before we had done hard sparring and the day before that, we had done strength training, conditioning.
“I got in and used my style, it was physical, we did some wrestling and good combinations. The cut happened because we were tired. I threw the left hook but my head was also going forward because he was pulling it.” Saudi royal advisor Turki Alalsheikh has now upped the stakes for the new date by promising to fine Fury or Usyk £10million of their own money if they pull out.
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