Boxing’s blue-ribbon division will finally have one champion after Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk have officially signed to fight – and heavyweight legend Mike Tyson has no doubt who will leave the ring with the belts.
Fury and Usyk had looked certain to fight each other for the undisputed title when the Ukrainian climbed onto the ring apron last December after ‘The Gypsy King’ dispatched of Derek Chisora. A deal came relatively close for a fight at Wembley in April after Usyk agreed to a 30% purse split, but ultimately talks collapsed over rematch financials.
Both fighters moved on, with Usyk successfully defending his WBA, WBO and IBF belts against Daniel Dubois in August and Fury announcing a crossover fight against former UFC champion, and world record holder for the hardest ever punch, Francis Ngannou.
It has now been announced that the fans are getting the clash they’ve been calling for after both teams confirmed that the fight was signed for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Speaking earlier in the year to iFL TV, ‘Iron’ Mike predicted that the man who was named after him would come out on top.
“Tyson Fury [will win]. He’ll over power him.
He [Usyk] can’t run that long with him, Tyson’s going to wear him down. He’ll get on him and wear on him and then he’s going to pound on him.
He [Usyk] is not going to win the titles running. I’m a great fan of Uysk’s but he’s not going to beat Tyson moving and running, he’s going to have to eventually fight.”
When asked how long Fury can rule the division, the former heavyweight champion said:
“As long as he wants to, it can be a year, two days, as long as he wants to he can reign.”
Fury-Usyk is set to take place sometime during Riyadh season which runs from late October to March 2024. The official date will be announced after the Ngannou fight.