Naseem Hamed has warned Tyson Fury not to make a ‘big mistake’ ahead of his proposed undisputed heavyweight fight with Oleksandr Usyk.
Prince Naz was ringside to see the unbeaten Fury struggle with the challenge of MMA champion turned boxing novice Francis Ngannou in Riyadh.
The Lineal and WBC champion was put down in the third round and went on to get a narrow split decision points victory despite never really taking over in the fight.
The lacklustre performance has somewhat dimmed the shine on the contracted undisputed battle between Fury and Usyk, originally planned to happen on December 23 but is now much more likely to happen in 2024.
Speaking to Pro Boxing Fans, Hamed said he was still keen to see the historic undisputed fight.
“I just look forward to Usyk and Fury now, let’s look forward to it.”
When asked if he thought the fight should happen in December, he advised against it.
“Me personally, I think if Tyson takes this fight on December 23rd that would be a big mistake. He should take his time, get into training camp, concentrate and focus the biggest fight on his life cause it’s undisputed.”
Despite initially pushing for the fight to take place this year – as Fury had previously demanded before the Ngannou bout – Usyk has since seemed to accept that 2024 it will be.
The expected date is in February 2024, when the pair will travel back out to Riyadh to crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion since the days of Lennox Lewis.