London - Dereck Chisora has withdrawn from his European heavyweight title showdown with Tyson Fury in Manchester after fracturing his hand during a sparring session.
Chisora was set to meet Fury to contest the European belt and the vacant British title on Saturday but his injury means the fight has had to be rescheduled, with a new date to be announced shortly.
In a statement from promoters, Chisora said: “I can't tell you how disappointed I am to have to pull out of the fight against Fury, but it is on the advice of my specialist that I have to do this.
“I'm sorry for the fans who will get to miss this great fight between me and Tyson this Saturday, but once my hand is healed and I'm given the all-clear to train and punch again, I'll be working on the new date for the fight.”
Chisora, who was keen to avenge his defeat to Fury on a unanimous points decision three years ago, added: “I was in fantastic shape and had a great training camp, probably the best so far in my career, and was looking forward to getting revenge on Fury, but that will have to wait.
“I'm sorry to have to pull out on Fury, as I know that he had been training hard and it was going to be a great fight between two top athletes and I hope we can get it on again soon.”
Promoter Frank Warren added: “Everybody involved in the fight worked hard to get it on and for this to happen on the final week is a big disappointment to everyone.
“There's no way that Dereck could fight with his hand fractured and there's no way I would let him get into the ring and fight with an injury like that.
“Obviously you've got to feel for Tyson who, through no fault of his own, has been hit hard by this postponement after all the training he has put in.”
Sapa-AFP