Oleksandr Usyk’s Team Complain About Potential “Trip Hazard” for Tyson Fury Fight

With barely a day to go for the biggest boxing show on earth, reportedly, Team Usyk appeared unhappy with the canvas layout at the Kingdom Arena ring. Reminiscent of heavyweight boxing’s golden age, Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury will face each other to become the first undisputed champion of the century.

However, per a Sky Sports report, the Ukrainian unified heavyweight champion’s team didn’t seem to like what they saw at the ring. They voiced their concerns over the possibility of the boxers stumbling on account of the issue. But opinions differ, as a few suggested, this could be either pre-fight butterflies or even an attempt at mind games.

Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk: High Maintenance

Per the available report, the issue developed during the open workout. A member of the Olympic gold medalist’s team turned up and suggested dissatisfaction with the canvas used on the ring. Especially, they expressed worries over the seam that joined pieces of the canvas. So, as it appears, the main fight would receive a similar canvas. Hence, the team seemingly suggested that the matter with seams might lead to a ‘trip hazard’.

Interestingly, per the piece on Sky Sports, a matching canvas, similar to the one about which the complaint has been allegedly raised, had been previously used. Heavyweight fights in Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom, which included Oleksandr Usyk’s victory over Anthony Joshua at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London followed by the rematch at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, are notable examples.

The story shared a statement from the person who made the canvas. Mike Goodall said, “Nothing is wrong with it at all. It’s been seamed as it’s normally seamed. Last night at the workout, Egis (Klimas), Usyk’s manager, happened to come up there, have a look at it, and he thought it was a little bit proud, and he made [a] comment about it, and said, ‘We don’t want it like that for the fight’.”

He refuted the trip hazard claim. “There’s no trip factor there. The thickness of the seam is more probably an eighth of an inch. But they just happened to run their hands over it and said ‘That’s a bit excessive’,” he said. In his view, the team was overly troubled, trying to pull out some or another excuse.

Man on the Ground Says

Sky Sports’ Ben Ransom reviewed the canvas with Frazer Clarke. The English heavyweight recently fought an epic battle with Fabio Wardley on March 31. The Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist believes that the complaint must have come from the team rather than the fighter himself. So, “maybe it’s the team; may be it’s a bit of…bit of mind games cuz maybe they’re trying to beat Fury to…to the ring inspection. I’m not sure about it. You know the reality of it is the fighters are not concerned about a millimeter; it’s literally nothing there.”

Anyway, as Clarke said, the fight stands right at the doorstep. So nothing much can be done about it. However, it’s interesting to see how the pre-game atmosphere spins out an array of reactions and emotions. While it would be difficult to judge those concerns or whether they should be addressed at all, they might remain a question. Or perhaps incidents like these on the whole add up to the overall intrigue.

What’s your take on Team Usyk’s claim? Please share your views with us in the comments below.