‘I couldn’t breathe’: Tommy Fury opens up on why he pulled out of Jake Paul fight

Tommy Fury has opened up on his withdrawal from his boxing match with Jake Paul, elaborating on his initial reasons for pulling out of next weekend’s fight.

Fury, half-brother of world heavyweight champion Tyson, was due to face YouTube star Paul in Florida on 18 December but cited a chest infection and broken rib on Monday as he withdrew from the bout.

Former UFC champion Tyron Woodley, who was outpointed by Paul when they boxed one another in August, will step in for Fury, who has said he wants to reschedule his fight with Paul for the new year.

“So guys, I’m sure you’ve all seen and heard the news as to why I’m not fighting on 18 December now,” the 22-year-old said in a video posted on his Instagram account. “Just thought I’d come on here and tell you myself.

“Training camp couldn’t have gone any better for me for the first week, two weeks. But then I contracted a bacterial chest infection, which led to me not being able to breathe [at the gym].

“I was in my sparring sessions, pad-work sessions – whatever it may be – just not being able to breathe, and coughing up huge amounts of phlegm all the time.

“It led me to sleepless nights, and that went on for about four weeks, because I had the mindset of ‘I’m gonna keep training, I’m gonna get through this, I’m gonna have the fight no matter what.’

“Four weeks passed and we decided to have a sparring session, and I took a little clip to the body. Because my body was so weak due to the virus inside of me, 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, straight for an MRI scan. I got the results back the same day, and the results uncovered that I had a clean break in my rib and multiple fractures.

“I still for the following week thought: ‘Do you know what? It’ll be fine, I can fight.’ It really took the doctor and my whole team to say: ‘Listen, you’ve got a broken rib and multiple fractures here, you can’t fight.’

“Even now sitting here, filming this video, it hasn’t really sunk in that I’m not fighting. All my focus is on right now is getting a new fight date set and recovering. That’s all I can do right now. I can’t do anything else apart from get my body right as soon as possible and look for a new fight date with Jake Paul.

“There is no other fight that I want out there, that’s the fight that I want next. I’m just gonna recover now and hopefully we can work out a new date for next year.

“Obviously everyone is gonna have their own opinions about the situation and what they think, but there is nothing – when it comes down to it – I can do about being medically unfit to fight.”

Former Love Island contestant Fury is 7-0 as a professional boxer, while Paul is 4-0.

American Paul, 24, holds knockout wins over fellow YouTuber AnEsonGib, ex-NBA star Nate Robinson, and former MMA champion Ben Askren.