- George Groves believes Tyson Fury could still withdraw from his fight with Usyk
- Fury and Usyk will finally meet in the ring as part of the Riyadh season on May 18.
- Groves also believes Anthony Joshua could have beaten an excellent David Haye.
George Groves believes Tyson Fury could still pull out of his undisputed title fight with Oleksandr Usyk and claims the WBC will do nothing about it.
Fury and Usyk will finally meet in the ring as part of Riyadh’s season in Saudi Arabia to crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era.
The winner of the highly anticipated fight will also unify the division for the first time since Lennox Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield in March 1999.
The long-awaited fight between Fury and Usyk was scheduled for February 17, but was postponed after Fury suffered an injury during camp.
The Gypsy King suffered a severe cut above his right eye while sparring, forcing the fight in Saudi Arabia to be postponed until May 18.
However, Groves is concerned that Fury could still pull out of the fight, claiming the postponement gave him a “feeling like the fight will never happen.”
George Groves believes Tyson Fury could still pull out of his undisputed title fight with Oleksandr Usyk and claims the WBC will do nothing about it.
Fury suffered a nasty laceration above his right eye that postponed his fight until May.
Groves also attacked the WBC, claiming that they would not ‘pressure’ Fury or penalize him for withdrawing from the fight.
However, Fury insists the fight will take place on May 18, insisting he is focused on beating the Ukrainian boxer.
when talking to betwayThe former world super middleweight champion said: “I’ve said it from the beginning: I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“I don’t think Fury ever liked the fight with Usyk. He’s talking about having 10 more fights, but if he loses to Usyk, how does that work?
“It’s a huge risk for him to fight Oleksandr Usyk. He probably really hopes that Usyk can’t take a body shot.
‘When the fight was postponed after the cut, I wasn’t surprised. I got the feeling that this fight will never happen.
‘I would be interested to know if the media have prepaid for their flights and hotels, or if they are postponing it.
‘We saw Eddie Hearn almost say Joshua-Fury beats Fury-Usyk after AJ beat Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia.
Fury, who needed 15 stitches after being caught by Agron Smakici’s elbow in training, finished his conditioning in Saudi Arabia before returning to the UK.
“I thought to myself, I bet Fury would rather have a bit of Joshua than Usyk because he’ll see it as an easier fight.
“People are starting to consider AJ to beat Fury after his two performances against Ngannou, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if Fury wants to set the record straight and fight Joshua next and leave out Usyk.
‘The Saudis or the WBC aren’t going to pressure Fury to fight Usyk, so maybe he’s thinking about going the Ngannou route again or fighting Joshua.
‘That’s the fight that everyone really wants to see. I don’t think that if he withdraws he will have to pay a fine of 10 million dollars.
“Usyk is probably thinking ‘I don’t know if this guy is going to show up’ because there’s still a chance Fury will retire.”
Groves went on to talk about the quality of Anthony Joshua, stating that he could have beaten the excellent David Haye.
He said: ‘Joshua would have beaten David Haye. Haye has enormous one-punch power, but look at his heavyweight resume: it’s night and day.
‘Joshua would win. Haye would like to maintain double distance and look to attack. Joshua’s been a bit static, but I’d have to pick AJ.’