Tyson Fury vs Wladimir Klitschko
Wladimir Klitschko lost his heavyweight titles to Tyson Fury in Dusseldorf back in November 2015 ROBERTO PFEIL/AFP/Getty Images

Tyson Fury has revealed that his heavyweight championship rematch against Wladimir Klitschko has been postponed. The controversial 27-year-old was due to provide the first defence of his WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO and the The Ring titles at the Manchester Arena on 9 July, but can no longer commit to that date due to an ankle sprain that will require him to rest for at least six weeks.

"Hey guys, I've got a little bit of bad news for you all," Fury said on Instagram. "About 10 days ago, I was running up in the Lake District and I went over and sprained my ankle. I've been to the hospital and had X-rays, MRI scans and all that stuff. They've said it's not broken but it's badly sprained and to keep off it for six/seven weeks.

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"I had a second opinion a week later and I've had the same advice. So the fight will be being postponed. Sorry to all my fans, to let you all down, but injuries do happen and it's one of those things.

"My apologies to everybody who's booked dates, but the fight will be on as soon as possible. That's all I know at this moment, but the fight is still going ahead. As soon as the ankle gets better, we will reschedule. Thank you all and God bless."

Fury, who has attracted frequent criticism for his controversial opinions, shocked the boxing world in November 2015 by dethroning an apprehensive Klitschko with a superb tactical performance at the Esprit Arena in Dusseldorf. That bout was also originally postponed after the 1996 Olympic gold medallist suffered a calf problem in training.

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Domestic rival David Haye previously pulled out of two potential meetings with Fury, who also saw his second clash with Dereck Chisora delayed. The Manchester fighter withdrew from a contest against Alexander Ustinov in 2014 after his uncle was taken ill.

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Peter Fury, Tyson's trainer and manager, has taken to Twitter to reveal that the fight will be rescheduled at the same venue. His team have also posted pictures of the bruised ankle as to leave fans in no doubt over the legitimacy of such an injury.