James Al Bashir Says Tyson Fury Clash Won’t Happen In May: “The Cut Will Re-Open”
With Tyson Fury’s cut, the biggest bout of 2024 was put on hold and caused chaos in the boxing industry. James Al Bashir, the former trainer of Oleksandr Usyk, is still doubtful that the fight will happen at all.
An accidental elbow from Agron Smakici, the Gipsy King’s sparring partner from Croatia, opened a massive gash above the Brit’s eye and delayed the most anticipated boxing event of the year.
Al Bashir said that he would have pushed the show back more if he had been in Fury’s corner in an interview with Seconds Out. Usyk was trained by Bashir from 2013 to 2017 and the Ukrainian went on to win his first professional world title.
That wound will take six to seven months to heal, based on what I witnessed. It appears to be one of those cuts that, in order to promote the greatest healing outcome, must be sutured both internally and externally.
“May, that is rushing it and cutting it short.” That cut might reopen if they move in May, as I can see. As a professional boxing trainer, I would definitely push the fight back to June or July. The longer he takes to heal, the nicer the cut will be.
For the time being, the fight will take place on May 18 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and will be the main event on a fantastic bill that also includes Sergey Kovalev, Jai Opetaia, and Joe Cordina.
