Tony Bellew has slammed those questioning the legitimacy of Tyson Fury’s cut which ruled him out of a February showdown with Oleksandr Usyk.
Fury was scheduled to face Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight championship on February 17 in Saudi Arabia, however this was postponed after he suffered a gruesome cut in sparring.
A new date of May 18 was quickly finalised, but some raised their doubts over whether ‘The Gypsy King’ was truly injured.
Former cruiserweight world champion, Bellew, who was once linked with a clash against his compatriot, has rubbished claims that the 35-year-old was being disingenuous over sustaining the cut.
“I feel sorry for Tyson Fury,” Bellew told IFLTV.
“Anyone thinking Tyson Fury has cut his own face is an absolute psychopath.
“You need to check yourself into the nearest doctor or psychiatrist if you think Tyson Fury cut himself, you lunatic.
“It is what it is. It happens. It’s professional boxing.
“Don’t expect to go into the water and not get wet.
“Training and getting ready for world title fights is a hard thing.
“I’ve done it on numerous occasions. The camps are long. The camps are hard.
“In 80, 90+ fights in my whole career, I can count on one hand how many times I’ve entered the ring 100%.
“So anyone thinking that fighters aren’t injured when they go into the ring are just insane.
“Everyone’s got a knock or a bump or some kind of injury, it’s just how well you can hide it or mask it.
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“No one can mask their face. No one can hide their face. Unfortunately Tyson Fury was very unlucky to get a cut like that.”
Bellew was stopped in his final fight against Usyk in a bid to claim the undisputed cruiserweight championship in 2018.
The Liverpudlian insists that Fury has no fear of the Ukrainian and would not voluntarily opt to miss out on such a huge payday.
“Miss out on £70m?,” he added.
“Really? Really?
“That’s probably the most expensive cut that’s happened in the history of the world.
“Literally, a little nick. Just stop. Just stop it. It’s insane.
“He didn’t cut himself. He wants the fight.
“Even if he half doesn’t fancy the fight, which I understand why people are looking at it like that, but also understand this from a former fighter, we’re scared of no one.”
