Tyson Fury’s undisputed heavyweight title bout with Oleksandr Usyk has been rescheduled for May 18.
Fury, 35, was scheduled to face Ukraine’s Usyk on February 17, but withdrew on Friday due to a cut sustained during sparring.
The Briton is the WBC champion, while Ukraine’s Usyk, 37, owns the WBA, WBO, and IBF championships.
Their fight in Saudi Arabia will determine the first undisputed heavyweight champion in the four-belt era.
Usyk wished Fury a swift recovery and stated that he was “ready to fight for undisputed any time, anywhere”.
The Ukrainian had been in talks with Croatian fighter Filip Hrgovic to replace Fury on February’s fight card.
Hrgovic is the obligatory challenger to Usyk’s IBF title, and there were concerns that he would be stripped of it if Fury was out for several months.
However, in just 24 hours, Saudi organisers and Team Fury moved rapidly to negotiate a new date for the undisputed bout.
Speaking about the MMA Hour
, Fury targeted Usyk’s manager, Egis Klimas, who questioned the legitimacy of his injury.
“Egis, never call me a coward again,” he thundered. “[I have] never backed down from any man in my life.”
There hasn’t been an undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis beat Evander Holyfield in 1999.
Fury’s cut above his right eye necessitated “urgent medical attention” and “significant stitching”. This is the third time since 2023 that Usyk and Fury’s fight has been delayed.
Turki Alalashikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s general entertainment authority, stated that if Usyk or Fury pulled out of the rescheduled date, they would forfeit £9.3 million to the other fighter.
Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev will also face off on June 1 in a light-heavyweight undisputed bout between two undefeated champions.
Bivol now owns the WBA (Super) championship, while Beterbiev holds the WBO, IBF, and WBC belts.
The Russians will headline Matchroom’s five-fight bill against Queensberry Promotions, featuring five of Eddie Hearn’s top fighters facing five of Frank Warren’s best.
It continues Saudi Arabia’s tremendous investment in boxing, with Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou the next significant event scheduled for the nation on March 9.
Saudi Arabia has become a global boxing hub, but it has also drawn criticism for its dismal human rights record, including 81 men killed on one day in 2022, women’s rights violations, the criminalization of homosexuality, restrictions on free speech, and the war in Yemen.