Heavyweight left bloodied in brawl before Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou face-off

07 September 2023 , 18:23

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Heavyweight left bloodied in brawl before Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou face-off

Heavyweight contenders David Adeleye and Fabio Wardley were involved in a physical altercation which left the latter bleeding on the red carpet for the Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou event launch.

The two top British heavyweights were due to announce their spot on the undercard of Fury and Ngannou's Saudi Arabian super-fight at this evening's event, which could see the British title put on the line. But they couldn't resist throwing hands a few weeks out as they came head-to-head at the plush Soho press conference.

After both appearing on the broadcast for TNT Sport, the pair were on the red carpet speaking to media outlets before a melee broke out between both sides. Fury was being interviewed on the official stream when cameras cut to Wardley, who was sporting a cut under his left eye with blood streaming as well as a nick on his nose.

And the chaos continued outside, as Mirror Fighting cameras caught footage of Adeleye being restrained by multiple members of security as he was removed from the venue. It remains to be seen what caused the incident, or if it will affect the pair's fight on the massive showcase.

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"I was thinking it was my brother but it wasn't him so we're fine," Fury joked while being interviewed, before returning to discussing his fight with Ngannou and declared he was "born for s*** talking". "I think that fight behind me has stole my thunder," he quipped. "I'll have to take him down now in the middle of the red carpet."

Adeleye had seemed irked during his interview on the broadcast, saying: "It's a good platform, I get to show the world how much I'm going to knock out this guy, everyone talks a good game but not all of them are really about having a tussle. We don't pull out of fights over here.

"Yeah, there's a respect, you've got to respect him, it'd be silly not to respect him. But I respect myself more and I believe in myself, I back myself every single time. Why shouldn't I be [confident]? I know what I am and I know what I do and I'm about. Not taking nothing away from him, he's a big guy just like me... At the end of the day it's either me or him and I choose myself."

Wardley was a little calmer in the moment, saying that the fight would rank "at the top" of his career to date. "The event is at least the top for me, this is something special, something different. I've been a part of some big ones, chief supported some big cards but this is definitely the biggest one.

"It's a great fight - he's keeping an eye, seeing what I'm saying, seeing what the game plan is if I let up any secrets, these aren't the type of fights I need but the fights I want. This is what I thrive on."

Donagh Corby