The highly anticipated heavyweight unification bout between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk is now set for February 17 at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This rescheduling comes after initial plans for a December 23 showdown were delayed due to Fury’s challenging fight against Francis Ngannou. A press conference at Wembley Stadium in London is slated to officially announce this title clash, where Fury’s WBC title and Usyk’s IBF, IBO, WBA, and WBO belts will all be on the line.
Fury, 35, and Usyk, 36, were originally set to meet in December. However, Fury’s October 28 bout with Ngannou proved more demanding than expected. Ngannou, making his professional boxing debut, managed to floor Fury in the third round and caused a cut and swelling, leading to a narrowly won split decision for Fury.
This bout between the Englishman Fury and Ukrainian Usyk has high stakes, as the winner will emerge as the first fully unified heavyweight champion in the four-belt era. The fight's delay doesn’t diminish its significance in the boxing world, promising to be a historic encounter in the heavyweight division.
Meanwhile, the General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia will still host a boxing card on December 23 at Kingdom Arena. This event will feature former IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua facing Swedish southpaw Otto Wallin in a 12-round main event. Additionally, former WBC heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder will compete against Joseph Parker, a former WBO champ, in the co-feature. This event, headlined by Joshua-Wallin, will also be announced in an upcoming press conference in London.
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