Report: Fury-Usyk heavyweight title fight moved to February
Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk have moved their undisputed heavyweight title fight to February, sources told ESPN's Mike Coppinger.
The fight will still be contested in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A firm date for the bout is not yet known.
Fury and Usyk were supposed to meet on Dec. 23 in Saudi Arabia, but those plans were thrown into flux after "The Gypsy King" earned a surprising split-decision win over Francis Ngannou on Saturday. Fury, who was shockingly knocked down by the MMA star in the third round, suffered two cuts during the bout, according to Coppinger.
The two reigning heavyweight champions and their respective camps have been verbally sparring over the fate of their much-anticipated title fight since Saturday. While Fury said he intended to rest until early 2024, Usyk was adamant the fight take place on schedule.
"We have a contract that says that the fight has to take place on the 23rd of December ... I will be ready for the 23rd because I'm in training camp," Usyk said Sunday.
Usyk, 36, currently holds the IBF, WBA, WBO (super), IBO, and The Ring heavyweight belts. The Ukrainian owns a 21-0 professional record with 14 wins via knockout.
Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) has defended his WBC heavyweight belt three times since taking it from Deontay Wilder in 2020. His most recent fight was a 10-round knockout win over Derek Chisora last December.
Both fighters own rematch clauses in the event they lose the unification bout.
Boxing has not seen an undisputed heavyweight champion of the world since Lennox Lewis was stripped of his WBA belt in 2000.