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Wladimir Klitschko postpones fight with Tyson Fury due to injury

Wladimir Klitschko, left, Tyson Fury were scheduled to fight on Oct. 24. (AP)
Wladimir Klitschko, left, Tyson Fury were scheduled to fight on Oct. 24. (AP)

The highly anticipated heavyweight showdown between world heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and Tyson Fury has been postponed after Klitschko suffered a tendon tear in his left calf during training.

The bout, which was scheduled to take place on Oct. 24 in Düsseldorf, Germany in front of an expected sold-out crowd in the vicinity of 55,000, will be rescheduled once Klitschko’s injury heals and he's cleared to train.

The postponement of the fight comes when the build was at its hottest. A bizarre press conference in London, where Fury arrived dressed as Batman, made waves and set the tone for what would have easily been the most anticipated fights in recent heavyweight memory.

Klitschko's injury was diagnosed on Thursday as a partial musculotendinous tear of the left calf and will seek medical treatment from Dr. Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt, who is also the physician for the German national soccer team. Klitschko's promotional company, K2 Promotions, announced that the tickets that were already purchased will remain valid and a new date for the fight would be announced next week.

Klitschko made the announcement via his Instagram account.

"Dear fans, I am sorry to inform you that I have had to postpone my fight with Tyson Fury due to a minor injury," Klitschko said.

"Especially after the exciting press conference last Wednesday, I was looking forward to this fight very much," he said. "I know that a lot of fans have already organized their trips to support me in Düsseldorf. I am so sorry that I am not able to fight on October 24. I also apologize to my opponent, who has spent many weeks preparing for this fight. I will do my very best to recover as fast as possible."

As expected, Fury was not pleased with the announcement and took to social media to offer his two cents on the situation.

“Well it's official, Klitschko has pulled out of the fight with an injury in his leg,” Fury said on Twitter. “It's a bit funny as I predicted this would happen!”

The 27-year-old Fury has had to deal with this sort of thing before, as a potentially lucrative fight with British rival David Haye was postponed on two occasions in 2013. But this, obviously, is a bigger disappointment as the 6-foot-9, 260-pound Fury (24-0, 18 KOs) is one of the few fighters in the heavyweight division who match up physically with the 6-foot-6, 245-pound Klitschko. The banter between the two has been entertaining and played right into Fury’s wheelhouse. But there is hope that Klitschko will recover quickly.

"Unfortunately, these situations are always possible in individual sports," said Bernd Bönte, CEO of Klitschko Management Group. "We all know about the importance of this event for everyone involved, as well as for all boxing fans. Therefore, we are trying everything possible to postpone this fight to a nearby date at the ESPRIT arena in Düsseldorf.”