The heavyweight title clash between Tyson Fury
(34-0-1) and Oleksandr Usyk (21-0) has been pushed back a few
months after the Brit’s near upset loss against Francis
Ngannou in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, last weekend.
A +800 underdog going into his boxing debut, Ngannou took the WBC
heavyweight champ to a controversial split decision, which didn’t
go the Cameroonian’s way despite him having scored the lone
knockdown of the bout. Most of the combat sports fraternity,
including the former UFC heavyweight champ himself, called it a
robbery. Usyk, who was in attendance for the fight, entered the
ring after the bout to cut a promo for his upcoming fight against
Fury.
Fury vs. Usyk was announced just weeks before the Ngannou fight
despite Fury’s disapproval of the timing. While the clash was
originally targeted for Dec. 23 in Riyadh, it has now reportedly
been pushed back to February for a yet-to-be-decided date. The
change in date was first reported by
ESPN.
The fight will decide the undisputed heavyweight champion, with
Fury putting his WBC title on the line against Usyk’s WBA, IBF,
WBO, IBO and The Ring titles. Their contract also includes a
two-way rematch clause, which essentially guarantees two
consecutive high-caliber bouts between them. The possibility of two
bouts between Fury and Usyk means that a rematch between “The Gypsy
King” and Ngannou isn’t likely to happen any time in the near
future.