The path seems clear to stage an undisputed heavyweight fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, but some comments after the Brit’s most recent fight had fans thinking it may be delayed.
Fury fought Derek Chisora in December of 2022 in a voluntary title defence designed to keep him busy. He dispatched of his domestic rival-turned-friend with ease, the referee calling a halt to proceedings in the tenth round.
In the aftermath, Fury told ESPN he was considering elbow surgery to deal with a longterm issue.
“I’ve got some hand problems and I’ve got to maybe have some surgery on my elbow. After that, I’m ready for anybody … I sort of f***ed my hands up tonight on Derek’s big head. And I’ve got some elbow problems.”
“I’ve got to maybe have surgery on my right elbow. I had the left one done back in October [2021] after the Wilder fight, so I’ve got to have it done. It will take about six to eight weeks to heal. We’ll see when we can be ready for this fight, we’ll see when it can be made.”
Providing an update on negotiations, Fury’s UK promoter, Frank Warren, has now told TalkSPORT that the injury is no longer of concern – at least enough to stop the Usyk fight.
“Is Tyson fit? Yeah he’s training. He’s had the [elbow problem] for a while and he’s okay with that. He’s not had any operations on his elbow or anything.”
In the same interview, Warren admitted that February or early March was now out of the question for the legacy-defining bout, and pushed back the time scale to late March or April.
The teams are awaiting an offer from Saudi Arabia to stage the fight, with Wembley Stadium still on the table should that fall through.