THIS could have been the moment that Tommy Fury suffered the broken rib that helped rule him out of his fight with Jake Paul.
The British star, 22, revealed yesterday that he is suffering with a bacterial chest infection AND a broken rib.
That means his mega showdown with YouTuber Paul – scheduled for December 18 in Tampa, Florida – is off.
Tommy’s older brother Tyson Fury, the WBC heavyweight champion, stunned fans with a clip of his brutal training with a medicine ball while calling for his dad John to break his rib on November 19.
That came ten days after Fury posted this video of him pushing Tommy through the same gruelling exercise with the medicine ball.
Tyson then revealed to Unibet on November 25 that both he and Tommy had suffered broken ribs.
The Gypsy King said: “I actually think I’ve fractured one of my ribs – but you can’t do anything for a broken rib. It’s just painful, that’s all.
“Tommy’s actually got a couple of broken ribs down one side. That’s put him out of action a bit in the gym.”
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Of course, it’s only speculation whether those injuries were the same as those that have forced the ex-Love Islander out of action.
And Tommy did claim that he suffered his broken rib in sparring preparing for Paul.
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’.
‘SOMETHING WASN’T RIGHT’
“Four weeks passed and we decided to have a sparring 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.
“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.
PAUL OR NOTHING
Paul will instead fight Tyron Woodley in a rematch of their August bout after he questioned the legitimacy of ‘scared’ Tommy’s injuries.
The ex-UFC star is already in training and was offered an extra £377,000 if he secures a revenge knockout.
Paul added: “The show must go on. This is business and these types of things happen in boxing and I just told my team I will fight anybody, whoever it is.
“Tyron Woodley was down, he’d been training for a fight in January and he has balls for getting in there and stepping in.
“It’s going to be exciting, almost a more exciting fight than Tommy Fury because Tyron is harder. He’s more experienced and wants to get that knockout.”
