Cristiano Ronaldo was issued a warning by Tyson Fury, who stated that “age will get you eventually, no matter who you are.”
The captain of Portugal has only scored once in four appearances in Qatar, having just left Manchester United in a contentious split.
In his country’s inaugural game against Ghana, he scored from the penalty spot.
Ronaldo was benched for Portugal’s convincing 6-1 victory over Switzerland in the round of 16 after receiving criticism from head coach Fernando Santos for his response to being substituted during the Group H match against South Korea.
Following his exclusion from the starting lineup, the A Selecao vehemently denied reports that the 37-year-old threatened to leave the team during what would likely be his final match at the finals.
WBC heavyweight champion and lifelong United supporter Fury insisted he understands Ronaldo’s situation because he believes the Portuguese player is no longer at the top of his game.
The boxer, who is unbeaten, drew comparisons to his legendary triumph over Wladimir Klitschko in 2015.
Fury’s statement to Ronaldo
“At the time, beating Klitschko was the Everest,” Fury told talkSPORT.
“I was the heavy underdog, people thought I was going to get smashed to pieces, and he was the unified champion for 11 years and at some point, he thought he was unbeatable.
“But I went over to Germany and beat him. In this game, it’s not about how much better somebody is than the other person.
“A lot of it has to do with natural stuff, like age, and at 38 years old, you are on the decline – whether you want to admit it or not.
“If you look at Cristiano Ronaldo, he’s 37 years old, he’s had the best doctors, the best physiotherapists – he’s lived like an egg in Mr Kipling’s cake.
“But even Ronaldo is on the slide now.
“So even someone who has looked after himself like that, it catches up to you – so, imagine a boxer who has been punched to pieces for the last 20 years!
“The age factor will not wait for anybody, no matter how you’ve lived.
“Whether you’ve never had a drink in your life, if you’ve never run on any hard surfaces, no matter who you are, age will get you eventually.”
When Portugal plays Morocco in the quarterfinals on Saturday, Ronaldo will be hoping to get back into the starting lineup as his team looks to advance to the semifinals for just the third time.