Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk, billed as Ring of Fire, is an upcoming heavyweight professional boxing match contested between English WBC and Lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and Ukrainian WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight championship. The bout was scheduled to take place on 17 February 2024 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, however, it was postponed due to a facial injury sustained by Fury in training. The bout was rescheduled the following day, and is set to take place on 18 May 2024 at the same venue.
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| Date | 18 May 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO, IBO, The Ring and Lineal undisputed heavyweight titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Background and build up edit
The fight will crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in 2000, as well as the first in the four-belt era.
In October 2023, it was rumored that Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk would take place on 23 December in Saudi Arabia. It was also reported that Anthony Joshua vs Deontay Wilder would serve as the co-feature.[1]
On 25 October, Fury and Usyk took it to social media to announce that they had signed for a bout, with a date of 23 December being reported but not officially announced.[2] On 28 October however, after Fury fought and defeated former UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou, he demanded that the bout with Usyk must be postponed because of injuries he sustained in the fight, despite Usyk stating that they are contracted for 23 December.[3] On 29 October, it was announced that the bout would take place in early 2024.[4]
On 16 November, the bout was officially announced to take place on 17 February 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with a launch press conference in London.[5] The fight was officially postponed on February 2, 2024, with the idea of rescheduling for 2024 once a doctor could determine the recovery time for a cut sustained by Tyson Fury in training. Fury's promoter Queensberry Promotions confirmed the injury.[6] The whole card was rescheduled for 18th of May 2024, the decision was made quickly by the event's organizer in Saudi Arabia, Turki Alalshikh.[7]
Card edit
| Weight class | vs | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main Card (PPV) | ||||||||
| Heavyweight | Tyson Fury | vs. | Oleksandr Usyk | – (12) | Note 1 | |||
| Cruiserweight | Jai Opetaia | vs. | Mairis Briedis | – (12) | Note 2 | |||
| Super Featherweight | Joe Cordina | vs. | Anthony Cacace | – (12) | Note 3 | |||
| Heavyweight | Agit Kabayel | vs. | Frank Sanchez | – (TBA) | ||||
| Cruiserweight | Sergey Kovalev | vs. | Robin Sirwan Safar | – (10) | ||||
| Lightweight | Mark Chamberlain | vs. | Joshua Oluwaseum Wahab | – (10) | ||||
| Preliminary Card | ||||||||
| Heavyweight | Moses Itauma | vs. | Ilja Mezencev | – (8) | ||||
| Crusierweight | David Nyika | vs. | Michael Seitz | – (8) | ||||
| Featherweight | Isaac Lowe | vs. | Hasibullah Ahmadi | – (8) | ||||
^Note 1 For WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO, IBO The Ring and Lineal heavyweight titles
^Note 2 For IBF Cruiserweight title
^Note 3 For IBF and IBO Super Featherweight titles
Broadcasters edit
DAZN PPV will cover the fight globally. In UK and Ireland, the fight will be aired live on both PPV's Sky and TNT Sports Box Office channels. In Ukraine, the fight will be streamed live on MEGOGO. In USA, the fight will streamed live via ESPN+ PPV.
References edit
- ^ Ellis, Jordan (23 October 2023). "'They want a mega card' – Anthony Joshua claims he could fight Deontay Wilder on same night as Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk in April". talkSport.
- ^ Sessions, George (25 October 2023). "Tyson Fury reveals December date for Oleksandr Usyk heavyweight title fight". The Independent.
- ^ Majendie, Matt (30 October 2023). "Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk showdown DELAYED after punishing Francis Ngannou fight". Evening Standard.
- ^ Broadbent, Rick (29 October 2023). "Tyson Fury fight with Oleksandr Usyk delayed until 2024". The Times.
- ^ Pattle, Alex (16 November 2023). "Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk date finally confirmed as historic title fight looms". The Independent.
- ^ "Tyson Fury v Oleksandr Usyk undisputed heavyweight title fight off after Briton sustains cut". bbc.co.uk. 2 February 2024.
- ^ "Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk rescheduled for 18 May with huge penalty for a withdrawal". metro.co.uk. 3 February 2024.