“I am absolutely devastated as I have been preparing for this fight for so long and was in superb shape,” “The Gypsy King” said in a released statement. “I am sorry to everyone involved in this great event and we will work to set a new date once the eye has healed.”
“I can only apologize to everyone affected, including my own team, Team Usik, the undercard fighters, partners, fans, and my friends in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”
Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usik had been negotiating a fight with each other for several years, and signed a contract to fight shortly before the Briton miraculously avoided a disappointing defeat against Francis Ngannou last October.
Tyson Fury made his last defense of his WBC title in December 2022, knocking out Dereck Chisora in the tenth round, while Alexander Usik successfully defended his WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO titles last August, knocking out Daniel Dubois in the ninth round.