THE war of words between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder escalated again as Fury slammed claims he ‘faked’ Covid to get their trilogy fight called off.
The WBC champion instead claimed he contracted the virus TWICE and was left feeling ‘weak’ and ‘terrible’ with illness.
Wilder has repeatedly accused his opponent of using a positive Covid test as an excuse to swerve their third fight.
The pair had been due to meet again back in July but Fury insisted his camp were justified in postponing to October following an outbreak of the virus.
He told Boxing Scene: “I don’t care what Deontay Wilder says, because if we want to take this publicly, then we have medical records by doctors here in Las Vegas who tested me.
“I don’t think you can fake COVID with the PCR test, when they stick a big thing up your nose. You’ve either got it or you haven’t.
“There would be no reason for me to want Covid and get out of a Deontay Wilder fight.
“Why would I want to chuck away $20-30 million to fight someone I’ve already knocked out quite comfortable?”
JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET A FREE £10 BONUS WITH 100s OF GAMES TO PLAY AND NO DEPOSIT REQUIRED (Ts&Cs apply)
The delayed fight is set to take place at Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena on October 9 with Fury recovered from his recent Covid scare.
The Brit claimed it was the second time he had picked up the virus, which robbed him of his sense of smell and taste.
He added: “I’ve had Covid twice. I had it once back in like 2020 and once a couple of months ago.
“The first time was a lot harder because I lost my sense of smell and taste, and I felt weak and I felt terrible. The second time, I didn’t feel that terrible.
“But with Covid you can’t fight because the commission won’t let you fight anyway, even if you wanted to.”
The winner of the Vegas bout is likely to find himself in the firing line of new champ Oleksandr Usyk.
The Ukrainian smashed Anthony Joshua to claim his heavyweight belts and wants an undisputed bout after he takes care of a rematch with the Brit.
