Former WBO heavyweight champion and sparring partner of Tyson Fury, Joseph Parker, has addressed scepticism surrounding the legitimacy of the Brit’s cut, which caused the delay of the undisputed heavyweight title clash between Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.
A couple of weeks ago, ‘The Gypsy King’ was cut by an unintentional elbow thrown by Croatian sparring partner Agron Smakici, which left the WBC heavyweight champion with a sizeable gash above his eyelid.
It postponed the coronation of the first four-belt heavyweight title-holder, breaking the hearts of boxing fans around the globe in the process. Some doubters questioned the injury, but in an interview with iFL TV, Parker dismissed the conspiracy theories.
“I don’t think that you can escape seeing the opinions and the comments, a lot of people are talking real bad about him [Fury] and saying that it is a fake cut and that he made it happen.
“Everyone has an idea, everyone has an opinion, everyone wants to say this and say that and think that they know what is happening but that is boxing. These things happen and it is a freak accident.
“It is good that they have postponed the fight and not given the fight to anyone else because we do want to see that fight happen.
“I know that it will happen, there are things in place now where if someone pulls out of the fight there is something that they have to deal with so it will happen, May 18th.”
Fury-Usyk is now set for May 18th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, although some concern remains from fans as to whether the two champions will ever face off in the ring.