Ukranian heavyweight Wladimir Klitschko, pictured in April 2016, will face Tyson Fury on October 29, 2016 © AFP/File / Oli Scarff
LONDON, United Kingdom, Sep 12 – Wladimir Klitschko said he was content to bide his time and wait for “revenge” over Tyson Fury after the world heavyweight champion failed to turn up for a press conference on Monday ahead of their October 29 rematch in Manchester.
Outspoken British boxer Fury, who rarely misses a chance to taunt his opponents, did not show up to the press conference on Monday, with a broken down car given as the reason for his non-attendance in London.
His absence came as it was confirmed Fury’s hearing with the United Kingdom Anti-Doping panel, which had put the bout in jeopardy, would be delayed until November after a High Court ruling said the fight could go ahead as planned.
“Tyson’s not here,” said veteran promoter Frank Warren, whose BoxNation channel is televising the fight.
“His car broke down on the way down, we’ve just found out, so he’s stuck somewhere on the M6. That is a problem for us: apologies to everybody, to (Klitschko’s promotional company) K2 and Wladimir.
“Mr (Charles) Flint, who is the head of the tribunal, has ruled that the fight will go ahead and the hearing will take place afterwards, so there is no danger of that stopping the fight happening.”
Fury claimed a shock win over Ukrainian Klitschko to take the World Boxing Association, World Boxing Organization and International Boxing Federation belts in a points decision in Dusseldorf last November.
The 28-year-old agreed to face Klitschko again, which meant he was stripped of the IBF title for failing to face its mandatory challenger.
“There is no way this fight does not happen unless, God forbid, one of them gets an injury,” added Warren of a fight already postponed from its original July date after Fury suffered an ankle injury.
– ‘Very entertaining’ –
Mick Hennessy, Fury’s manager,added: “Apologies once again for Tyson not attending. We only spoke to him once; his battery’s gone.
“He’s had problems with traffic, and also the car he was in broke down, so all we can do is get on with it.
Britain’s Tyson Fury (L) defends against Wladimir Klitschko of Ukraine during their WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO title bout in Duesseldorf, western Germany in 2015 © AFP/File / Patrik Stollarz
“This is the very first press conference Tyson has ever missed, he is normally very early at press conferences and he is normally very entertaining at press conferences. So this is not the norm and we are not making it up.”
After the July bout was called off, it emerged that UKAD had charged Fury over a urine sample taken in February 2015, and his cousin Hughie with a doping offence.
It was alleged the sample — taken nine months before his defeat of Klitschko — contained traces of the banned substance nandrolone.
Fury was provisionally suspended, but that ban has since been lifted.
“Fury is not here right now but maybe he is invisible,” said Klitschko, 40. “But eventually — and I hope so — we will meet in the ring. It’s okay, I can wait. I can wait because I have enough patience. Because I am really looking forward to the revenge.
“So trust me, even if invisible Fury is here or not, I really just hope this fight is going to happen.
“Even if it doesn’t happen, I will wait and eventually time will run out for the champion.”
Hennessy was also asked how confident he was of Fury being cleared by the hearing, said: “Very, very confident to say the least. There’ll be a lot of things coming out for sure.”
Fury’s trainer and uncle Peter was present, and he said: “There has been chaos around this fight. We have had hard knocks in life but we can happily say this will go ahead because that is what the judge has ruled and I am so happy we can have the fight.”
