After months of inactivity for all, slowly but surely fights are appearing on the heavyweight horizon, but the two champions, Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, won’t be in a historic undisputed clash anytime soon.
Speaking to talkSPORT, promoter Frank Warren discussed his frustrations with the division, and confirmed that Fury won’t be fighting Oleksandr Usyk any time before February of 2024.
“We’re not sat around waiting. We’re trying to make fights for Tyson. People have been waiting to see what happens in Saudi before they decide but we’re going off now in another direction.
Now Joshua is going to fight Dillian Whyte, and that’s come about because of the situation with [Skill Challenge Entertainment in Saudi Arabia] saying that they aren’t going to be having any fight until next February.”
“All I know is Joshua didn’t want to fight Tyson for the title. What he does is his business. What I would have respected more was if rather he than fighting Dillian, he had the ambition to fight for the WBC title [against Fury] which obviously he didn’t have.”
Fury against Usyk is one of the best match-ups to be made in world boxing but, once again, this news confirms the fight isn’t going to happen any time soon.
Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte, meanwhile, are set for a rematch in London on August 12, and Joshua is likely to then come to blows with Deontay Wilder in a £60m super fight in Saudi Arabia at the end of 2023 or the start of 2024 – should he beat Whyte, of course.
Fury is strongly rumoured to be fighting MMA star Francis Ngannou in a crossover bout that will undoubtedly be disappointing to many fans.