Carl Froch continues to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the cut that caused Tyson Fury to postpone his fight with Oleksandr Usyk and has once again branded it ‘convenient.’
Fury was a matter of days away from the historic undisputed fight in February when the cut was sustained. It came late on in camp at the elbow of a Croatian sparring partner. The fight was immediately postponed and then quickly a new date of May 18 was announced.
In the days afterwards, speculation was rife about whether the cut was real, and whether it was a move to buy extra time for a longer camp for Fury who had underwhelmed in his last fight back in October against Francis Ngannou.
Froch, who this week said he would train Wayne Rooney for his boxing debut, was one of those who wasn’t convinced and speaking to Grosvenor Casinos he has reiterated that position once more.
“I think it’s a surface cut rather than a deep muscle cut, so then it makes you think, was it done on purpose? I just know the timing of it is so bloody convenient and I said three months ago this fight wouldn’t happen in February because I didn’t think he’d be ready in February.
“When they announced it, I said Fury would not be ready for that fight, I thought – is he going to make it through Christmas without any pudding? And when I heard the fight was off, I thought ‘there we go’, that was obvious.
“But do I think it’s a conspiracy – as much as I love a conspiracy – I think he’s probably had an elbow in the face in sparring, but to me it shows he’s not ready or prepared.
He should not be getting injuries like that, he should be moving and jabbing, and tying him up, he should not be getting hit like that. I think he’s on the decline and it shows to me he wasn’t fully ready or prepared for Usyk.”
Fury will need to be at his very best for the Usyk fight if he is to prove, as he has always claimed, that he is the best of his generation.