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Mike Coppinger, ESPN
The Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk undisputed heavyweight championship bout has been rescheduled for May 18 in Saudi Arabia, the chairman of the kingdom’s general entertainment authority, Turki Alalshikh, announced Saturday on “The MMA Hour.”
Fury and Usyk were set to meet Feb. 17 in the Kingdom’s capital, Riyadh, before the fight was postponed Friday after Fury suffered a cut over his right eye while sparring.
The rescheduled date was announced by Alalshikh as Fury sat alongside him; Usyk and manager Egis Klimas also joined the announcement from Spain.
“I arranged to spar 12 rounds with four different guys,” Fury said on the program. “In Round 5, I got an elbow in the eye — a split eye — and obviously I’ve been to the hospital and have the 11 stitches.
“They have the medical reports, they have everything. Have a look at the eye. … Nothing much anybody can do about getting a cut. … I’ve never had one before [while sparring]. First time for everything.”
Alalshikh said that if either fighter withdraws from the May 18 bout, he must forfeit $10 million from his purse; and also that one of them would still fight on that date.
Addressing doubts from Usyk’s team and from social media about the veracity of the injury, Alalshikh said he has a “special camera” that gives him access to Fury’s training camp in Riyadh. He confirmed there was a serious cut that emerged from an accident in sparring.
Usyk said he simply smiled when he was informed of the postponement and proceeded to train.
Klimas claimed on the show that Fury is “scared” and that he didn’t want to fight Usyk.
“Why would I not want to fight for the biggest payday in my life and put 10 weeks in the training camp?” Fury responded.
On Saturday’s program, Alalshikh also offered heavyweight contender Filip Hrgovic a fight on the March 8 undercard of Anthony Joshua-Francis Ngannou in Riyadh. He mentioned six possibilities: Daniel Dubois, Jared Anderson, Frank Sanchez, Agit Kabayel, Jarrell Miller and Martin Bakole.
Hrgovic told ESPN on Friday that he was willing to step in and replace Fury on Feb. 17.
Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) and Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) were slated to meet in two weeks in the most highly anticipated heavyweight title fight since Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson in 2002.
Fury-Usyk was originally planned for Dec. 23 before Fury struggled in a tougher-than-expected bout with former UFC champion Ngannou in October in Riyadh. Fury was cut over the forehead and the left eye en route to a split decision over Ngannou, who was making his pro boxing debut.
Fury, 35, was even dropped in Round 3, the seventh knockdown of his illustrious career. Fury and Usyk signed contracts for their long-awaited battle for heavyweight supremacy weeks before “The Gypsy King” stepped through the ropes to fight Ngannou in a 10-round nontitle bout. (Fury holds the WBC title.)
Usyk, 36, is an Olympic gold medalist and former undisputed cruiserweight champion. The Ukrainian holds the WBA, WBO and IBF titles, belts he won from Joshua in 2021. Usyk retained the titles in the rematch with another decision over Joshua last summer in Saudi Arabia.
Usyk last fought in August, when he scored a ninth-round KO of Dubois in Poland. Usyk is ESPN’s No. 2 heavyweight and No. 3 pound-for-pound boxer. Fury is ESPN’s No. 1 heavyweight and No. 10 pound-for-pound boxer. England’s Fury fought twice in 2022, both TKO wins at soccer stadiums in London (in April vs. Dillian Whyte and December vs. Derek Chisora).
This is Fury’s second title reign. He beat another Ukrainian, Wladimir Klitschko, in 2015 for three heavyweight titles via decision in an upset. Fury never defended those titles and instead was out of the ring for two and a half years due to depression and substance abuse. He was up to 400-plus pounds during that time.
After Fury returned from that hiatus, he established himself as one of boxing’s top stars with a classic heavyweight title trilogy with Deontay Wilder, whom he stopped twice after a draw in the first meeting. Fury’s third fight with Wilder was ESPN’s 2021 Fight of the Year and KO of the Year.
The Fury-Usyk deal contains a two-way rematch clause, virtually ensuring two consecutive fights between the pair for millions of dollars.
Source: www.espn.com