Tyson Fury may be busy focusing on his upcoming super-fight with American Deontay Wilder, but he has had time overnight to pay tribute to his cousin Hughie, who unfortunately fell short in his final eliminator with Kubrat Pulev last night.Fury was hopeful that a win in Bulgaria would have set him up nicely for a shot at one of Anthony Joshua's heavyweight belts, but after sustaining a nasty cut to his eye, he simply couldn't perform at his very best.It was clear for all to see Fury was struggling with the injury, and the scorecards reflected the disappointing night for him.The 24-year-old's eye was badly busted up as early as round two, giving Pulev a rather comfortable evening - something he wouldn't have expected going into the fight.Fury was talking the talk pre-fight, opening up about how he's not afraid to go to Bulgaria and get the job done.He was also mentioned 'AJ' a lot, almost like the win was a guarantee, but as we know, that's what boxers do best.However, it just wasn't to be on the night, and sadly for Hughie, a shot at Joshua now looks very, very unlikely.As for Pulev, he was actually fighting his first fight in 18 months, but you couldn't tell as he looked relatively comfortable throughout.Eventually, the judges scored the fight 117-111, 118-110, 115-113 in Pulev's favour - highlighting just how comfortable it was for him.
No doubt Hughie will be disappointed with his performance, and no doubt he'll be frustrated that his eye caused him so much hassle from the get-go.However, he will surely be reassured by the classy tweet he received from his cousin.Despite promising he'd be going silent from social media ahead of the Wilder fight, Tyson took exception last night and posted about his cousin's evening and his defeat.Tyson wrote: "@hughiefury well done in the Pulev fight. You can only do your best & @24 years old fighting the top level fighters in the world it’s amazing achievements. You will comeback stronger & more experience! Chin up cuz proud of you!ðŸ™ðŸ»"
Family comes before boxing.