Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury 2 date confirmed as Saudis delay rematch

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury will fight again in a rematch on 21 December following their undisputed heavyweight title bout earlier this month.

Usyk outpointed Fury in Saudi Arabia to become the division’s first undisputed king in 24 years.

Fury possessed the option of a rematch and the initial date floated was in October, but both fighters will now have more time to prepare for the contest after Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority, confirmed the fight.

A statement read: “The rematch between the undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk and the champion Tyson Fury is now scheduled on the 21 December 2024 during Riyadh Season.

“The world will watch another historical fight again... Our commitment to boxing fans continues. We hope you enjoy it.”

But just like Lennox Lewis before him, Usyk’s time with all the major belts could be short-lived, as it remains unclear if he can retain all four belts without facing his mandatory challenger.

The IBF may strip Usyk, with the mandatory challenger Filip Hrgovic poised to face Daniel Dubois on Saturday in Riyadh.

But while that fight may not be for the title, Anthony Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn believes the IBF belt will soon be taken away from Usyk with the winner poised to face ‘AJ’ in September to crown a new king.

“There’s got to be a process, it will take longer than a week,” Eddie Hearn told Boxing Social. “It’s very unlikely for that to be in place on Saturday, but it is likely that the winner of that fight [Hrgovic vs Dubois] then fights Anthony Joshua for the world heavyweight title in September, so massive permutations for that fight.”

With his victory over the Briton, Usyk retained the unified titles and took the WBC belt from Fury. The win made the Olympic gold medalist the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era.

In November 1999, Lewis beat Evander Holyfield in a rematch to become undisputed heavyweight champion, holding the WBC, WBA and IBF titles.

Within six months, Lewis was stripped of the WBA belt, meaning he lost his undisputed status in 2000.