Canvas row settled on day of Klitschko-Fury bout

Wladimir Klitschko’s heavyweight world title defence against Tyson Fury will go ahead after a row over the canvas being used in Dusseldorf was resolved on the day of the fight.

Klitschko is set to put his WBA, IBF and WBO belts on the line against the undefeated Fury, but the latter’s camp expressed unhappiness within 24 hours of the proposed start time.

“The foam underlay is too soft,” Fury’s agent Asif Vali was quoted as saying by BBC Sport. “It’s five inches thick, which doesn’t help a big lad going into a ring.

“If it’s not resolved, the fight is in jeopardy of being off.

“We’ve never seen canvas like this before. It’s too much from a health and safety point of view, because he [Fury] can easily do his ankle.”

However, the issue was seemingly soon resolved, with Vali subsequently taking to Twitter to reveal: “It’s on after two hours, it’s fight time.”