Tyson Fury’s undisputed world heavyweight title fight with Oleksandr Usyk – a.k.a. the “Ring of Fire” bout – has been rescheduled for May 18.
The much-hyped match was originally scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia later this month but was postponed after the Englishman suffered a “freak cut” above his eye during training.
Queensbury Promotions’ statement about X, formerly known as Twitter, includes the following statements: “The undisputed heavyweight championship fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk has been postponed to May 18 in Riyadh.”
Fury required medical attention after being injured during a sparring session.
This is the second time his planned fight with Usyk has been postponed, with the initial time slot in December failing to materialise.
What’s at stake?
Boxing will once again have an undisputed heavyweight champion after what Fury himself called a “fight for the ages”.
Fury holds the WBC belt he won by defeating Deontay Wilder in 2020. He defended his belt three times against Wilder, Dillian Whyte and most recently Derek Chisora.
Usyk has held the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles since defeating Anthony Joshua in 2021. He defended those titles twice against Joshua and Daniel Dubois.
Both Fury and Usyk are undefeated so far in their professional boxing careers.
The last time boxing had a unified and undisputed heavyweight champion was in 2000 when Lennox Lewis held all four titles.
When is the Fury-Usyk match?
As we mentioned before, the fight is set for Saturday, May 18, 2024. It was planned for February 17.
Where is the fight taking place?
The match will be played in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
What do they say?
Usyk revealed Tuesday that he missed the birth of his daughter while preparing for this heavyweight title fight.
The fight in Riyadh, originally scheduled for December 23 and later scheduled for February 17, was rescheduled for the Saudi Arabian city to May 18.
Usyk told reporters at a press conference at his training camp on Spain’s east coast that he had sacrificed a lot to prepare for the fight and that Fury, whose interruption in sparring forced him to push the fight back, should take the fight more seriously.
“I sacrificed all the days we spent with my family; “New Year’s Eve, Christmas, my birthday, my son’s birthday, my second son’s birthday and of course my daughter’s birthday,” he said.
Usyk said he will now spend two or three days at home to hug his daughter and be with his wife before returning to training.
He said he was arguing in the ring when he was told about the latest postponement and questioned Fury’s training methods.
“I’m not judging anyone, but the point is we need to take this more seriously. This is a very important and highly anticipated fight for the whole world,” he said. “There are some precautions that are taken by highly professional fighters; normally you would use headgear, like 20-ounce gloves for sparring.” You use large gloves.
“You put Vaseline on your gym buddies’ gloves, you put Vaseline on your mask and your eyebrows to prevent cuts and prevent any kind of injury. Because you are treating this differently than a professional, you are jeopardizing the entire incident and disrespecting the individuals involved.”
Fury said earlier in the week that he had never had a break in training for a big fight before.
‘You’re falling into pieces, sausage’
At a press conference confirming the previous February date, Fury said of Usyk:
“I’m going to blow him up. Sausage. Ugly little man. Rabbit. Run rabbit, run rabbit, run, run, run. Do you know what’s coming? You’re falling apart, sausage. You’re fighting the best British heavyweight ever.
“You beat the others, but you couldn’t beat Tyson Fury, sausage. You can never beat me. If you beat me in your dream, you better wake up and apologize. I stole this from Muhammad Ali, I’m sorry.
“When you sleep at night, ugly man, you’ll be thinking about me for the next eight weeks. I’ll punch you in the face. You ugly little man.”
‘A man wearing earrings could never beat Tyson Fury’
Before Fury’s injury, the trash-talking was in full swing, with the Brit even taking aim at his rival’s earrings.
“I know you can’t beat me, I know you can’t beat me. A man wearing earrings can never beat Tyson Fury. He has no chance, no one wearing earrings can beat him.”
Usyk replied: “I can make a statement about the earrings. Ukrainian warrior Cossack. They were the people who protected my country against our enemies for many years. This is just proof of my Kazakh ancestry; they never lost to anyone. There is neither beauty nor fashion in this.”
How can I watch it in the UK?
The action is broadcast live on TNT Sports Box Office.
Who is in the undercard lineup?
Jai Opetaia will have a rematch with Mairis Briedis, whom he defeated to become the welterweight world champion. They will fight for the vacant IBF welterweight championship.
Joe Cordina will defend his IBF super featherweight crown for the second time and fight Belfast’s IBO world champion Anthony Cacace.
Sergey Kovalev fights Robin Sirwan Safar at welterweight. Tyson Fury’s cousin Isaac Lowe will face Hasibullah Ahmadi at featherweight.
6ft 8in Kiwi cruiserweight David Nyika will fight but his opponent is TBC. Heavyweights Bakhodir Jalolov and Moses Itauma will also appear, but their opponents have not yet been determined.