An official announcement on a date for the highly anticipated unification bout between WBA, WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk 21-0 (14) and WBC titleholder Tyson Fury 34-0-1 (24) is expected next week.
Plans for Saudi Arabia to host the fight on December 23 were thrown into disarray when 35-year-old Brit Fury struggled to get past boxing debutant and former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in their 10-round non-title bout at Boulevard Hall in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on October 28.
Cameroonian-Frenchman Ngannou, 37, surprised many with his boxing ability, flooring Fury inn the third round before eventually losing a razor-thin split decision by scores of 95-94, 94-95 and 93-96.
A loss for Fury would have put his mooted fight against 36-year-old Ukrainian southpaw Usyk in jeopardy and while the win kept the fight alive, his performance has left many asking questions about his ability to defeated the former undisputed cruiserweight champion.
“It was definitely not his best performance,” Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk told Mail Sport’s Charlotte Daly on The Hook.
“Not even close to his to his [best] performance. I’ve never seen him like that and I hope I will never see him like that. Listen, he won the fight. There is no doubt about it. But the way he did it did not look good.
“[Usyk] was sweating all the fight because there was a chance for Tyson to lose. Can you imagine? If he loses, who will watch this fight?”
Krassyuk added that Fury’s showing against Ngannou did not make him any more confident of victory against the self-styled Gypsy King.
“You know, Usyk is such a great professional that he knew all the weaknesses that Tyson Fury has,” Krassyuk said. “Did it bring any extra confidence? No, Usyk has always been confident in what he does.”
Despite he claims to the contrary, Fury looked underprepared for Ngannou. Krassyuk said he was happy to give Fury extra time for a proper camp for Usyk, saying they only want to beat the best version of him.
“It depends on how he gonna spend this time,” Krassyuk said. “If it brings him to a better shape and better spirit, then definitely yes. But we remember Tyson after he defeated [Wladimir] Klitschko and was supposed to fight in the rematch, he spent his time, let’s say, not in the best manner.”
The rumoured date for the rescheduled bout is late February with an announcement imminent.
“We plan to make some announcements next week,” Krassyuk said before praising the Saudis for their professionalism and understanding.
“Listen, these people are amazing people. They are very professional and they have huge knowledge and experience in sports. So they understand it clearly and they want to make it. So they put all the efforts to match all the all the wants and needs of the fighters.
“These are the champions. The champion is fighting the champion. They want to make them feel comfortable. So that’s what they do and they do it perfectly.”
