WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has insisted he is not to blame for the postponement of his trilogy bout with Deontay Wilder and will “ruin” the ‘Bronze Bomber’ when they clash in October.
Fury tested positive for Covid-19 two weeks ago torpedoing the meeting with Wilder that was scheduled for this weekend. Disappointment that the Coronavirus had leaked into the Team Fury fight bubble soon became disbelief when the ‘Gypsy King’ was seen posing with fans in Las Vegas shortly afterwards.
But Fury has said that he had already self-isolated when those pictures were taken after a sparring partner apparently introduced Covid-19 into his fight camp. Now the WBC champion can’t wait to punish Wilder on the rearranged date of October 9 in Las Vegas.
“I’m the last person to blame,” Fury told Jeff Powell of The Daily Mail. “I don’t have a large entourage, unlike most world champions with all their ass-licking hangers on. Since coming back into full-time camp I hadn’t been anywhere other than my new house here and the Top Rank gym. Nor had my team.
“The only people whose movements I couldn’t completely control were my sparring partners, who change. They came in and out of the bubble and everyone knows this town is full of Covid. I suspect we caught it from one of them.
“I took the advice from the best doctors in America. Everything we did was above board. In fact, I went beyond their advice. I stayed isolated for two or three more days than their maximum recommendation.
“I took the pictures [with fans] because I was so pleased to be out in the sunshine. Waking up every morning to bright, hot weather has been vital to stabilising my mental health recovery. I’m relieved and grateful that all of us have come through okay during this terrible time when so many people are dying.”
Fury, of course, overwhelmed Wilder in seven rounds in February 2020 before an arbitrator ruled he must fulfil their previously contracted trilogy bout, derailing an undisputed title fight against rival champion Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia in August.
After a year of frustrating delays and almost 20 months of inactivity, Fury can’t wait to punish Wilder when they finally clash again in October.
“Mentally, he’s a broken man,” said Fury. “I destroyed him last time in seven rounds and I will ruin him quicker next time. Inside five. He knows that if we fought 10 times I would win 10 times.”