Top Rank have confirmed that WBC heavyweight titleholder Tyson Fury 34-0-1 (24) will face WBA, WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk 21-0 (14) in his next bout.
The pair were exepcted to clash in the first four-belt unification bout in heavyweight history in Saudi Arabia on December 23, but that date was scuppered after Fury’s poor showing against boxing debutant and former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou last weekend.
French-Cameroonian Ngannou, 37, surprised most observers with his boxing ability and ring IQ, dropping Britain’s Fury, 35, in the third round only to lose a split decision by scores of 95-94, 94-95 and 93-96 in their 10-round non-title bout at Boulevard Hall in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday night.
Fury’s co-promoter Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions poured cold water on the proposed December date for the Usyk bout in the ring immediately after the Ngannou fight, citing a small cut Fury suffered on his forehead and the short turnaround time.
Warren says the bout will still take place, just not this year, and Fury’s other co-promoter Top Rank has confirmed this is the plan.
“The heavy lifting’s done, relatively,” Top Rank president Todd duBoef said to Sky Sports. “The heavy lifting of getting people to agree is done.
“I haven’t felt any of the parties involved, that were ready to do this in December, going in a different direction other than going forward.
“Now we’re just trying to finetune some of this, the date and everything like that. I think there’s a promise, there’s a glimmer of hope out there, a big glimmer, that this will hopefully come to fruition.
“I think in the coming weeks, it might not be weeks even, days, we should be seeing something that solidifies everything.”
Fury came close to sabotaging his fight against 36-year-old Ukrainian southpaw Usyk with his showing against Ngannou, with questions being asked about his preparedness for the fight.
DuBoef says Fury has shouldered the blame.
“I think he was clear after the fight saying, ‘Hey, this is all on me, I did what I did’,” duBoef said.
“I don’t think he showed his full arsenal and when he’s razor sharp and he’s razor focused, what he’s capable of doing and I think on the other hand Francis was able to show what he was able to do when people had such low expectations.
“I think next time you see Tyson Fury he’s going to be razor, razor sharp.”
DuBoef went on to praise Ngannou, who he says has a future in boxing if that is what he wants to pursue.
“I think with what he showed, he can play in the game,” duBoef said. “He now has a real opportunity in boxing and he can go also proceed with his normal career which was MMA.
“He just kicked open the door for great opportunity for himself and proved to himself and the world that he could fight at the highest level.”
