Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk now expected in February
Fury vs Usyk will still happen, but December is a no-go.
Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk are still set to fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world, but the fight is now expected in February 2024, rather than the too-soon Dec. 23 date that had been tentatively floated.
Mike Coppinger had the report at ESPN.com.
This is not really a surprise, and we already discussed in the Fury vs Ngannou aftermath that December was pretty clearly going to be too soon. Fury suffered some cuts and bruises in his stunningly competitive fight with Ngannou, and he and promoter Frank Warren totally avoided committing to that date when asked in the post-fight.
This is fair, by the way — the cuts and bruises are real, they do matter, and frankly Fury will want to make sure he’s much better prepared for Usyk than he was for Ngannou.
Coppinger also notes that the fight has a two-way rematch clause, so if Ngannou is hoping to run it back with Fury — and he is — he might be waiting quite a while, possibly into 2025.
Fury will be defending his WBC title and his lineal claim, while Usyk will be defending the WBA, IBF, and WBO belts when the two meet.