‘I wasn’t able to BREATH’ – Tommy Fury reveals broken rib suffered in sparring which forced him out of Jake Paul fight
TOMMY FURY has revealed he suffered a broken rib in sparring before having to pull out of his fight with Jake Paul.
Fury, 22, was confirmed to have withdrawn from the clash on Monday due to a bacterial chest infection and broken rib.
And he has now spoken about what caused the injury, insisting his body was too weak to go ahead with the fight – which was due to take place in Florida on December 18.
Speaking on social media, he said: “Training camp couldn’t have gone any better for me for the first week or two but then I contracted a bacterial chest infection which led me to go to the gym and not being able to breathe.
“My sparring sessions, pad work sessions, whatever it may be I wasn’t able to breathe and I was coughing up huge amounts of phlegm all the time.
“It led me to sleepless nights and that went on for four weeks. I had the mind-set of, ‘I’m going to train, I’m going to get through this, I’m going to fight no matter what’.
“Four weeks past and we decided to have a sparing session and I took a little clip to the body and because my body was so weak due to the virus, I instantly knew something wasn’t right.
“I was throwing up from the pain, I was doubled over. I literally got my bag and went straight to the hospital for an MRI scan and got the results back the same day.
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“The results showed I had a clean break and I had multiple fractures. For the following week I still thought I could fight but then it took the doctor and my whole team to say you can’t fight.
“Even now it hasn’t sunk in that I’m not fighting. My only focus is getting a new fight date set and recovering.
“I can’t do anything else apart from get my body right as quickly as possible and look for a new fight date with Jake Paul.
“There is no other fight out there, that’s the fight I want next and hopefully we can work out a new date for next year.”
Fury also shared an image of an x-ray to prove the legitimacy of his injury.
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There is no guarantees Fury will be able to reschedule his fight with Paul as the YouTube star has refused to confirm whether or not he will agree to a new date.
Meanwhile, Paul is still fighting on December 18 as he rematches former UFC world champion Tyron Woodley – the man he beat by split decision in August.
And while his show goes on, the 24-year-old could not believe Fury opted to pull out.
Paul took to social media to confirm the news about their clash, saying: “It is official, Tommy Fury is boxing’s biggest b***h. He has pulled out of the fight, the Furys have pulled out of the fight due to a medical condition.”
“I couldn’t believe the news at first, it still doesn’t even seem real. He fumbled the biggest bag of his life. Now he will be watching at home, paying me $60 instead of getting paid millions of dollars to fight me.
“I’ve fought with a broken nose, I’ve fought sick, get the f**k over it – this is boxing. He was scared, I think the pressure got to him, the s**t-talk got to him.”