Oleksandr Usyk solidified his declare as this eras finest huge man be defeating Tyson Fury for all of the heavyweight marbles. (Picture by Mikey Williams-Prime Rank)
Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury are set to run it again.
There’s a slight delay within the timeline however the undisputed heavyweight championship rematch is on the right track for December 21. The second act will happen on the identical web site of their Might 18 on the spot basic in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“The rematch… is now scheduled on the 21 of December 2024 throughout Riyadh Season,” Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Normal Leisure Authority, introduced on Wednesday. “The world will watch one other historic battle once more. Our dedication to boxing followers continues.”
https://x.com/Turki_alalshikh/standing/1795749075113107734
Ukraine’s Usyk (22-0, 14 knockouts) edged England’s Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) through cut up determination to totally unify all the main heavyweight titles. The pair of then-unbeaten elite boxers entered an settlement that referred to as for a direct rematch, no matter how the primary battle performed out.
Luckily, it was a memorable twelve-round conflict worthy of a sequel.
Usyk had Fury badly damage and was credited with a knockdown late within the ninth spherical. The sequence was a part of a memorable second half surge to beat an early deficit. It was sufficient to prevail on two of the three scorecards to defend his RING championship for the second time. Usyk additionally retained his WBA, IBF and WBO titles and claimed Fury’s WBC crown.
The feat topped the primary undisputed heavyweight champion of the twenty first century. Fury, 35, The Ring’s No. 1 rated heavyweight, exercised his rematch clause. Usyk, 38, adopted swimsuit and filed an exception with the IBF in lieu of a compulsory title protection.
There have been issues that the bodily harm Usyk sustained within the battle was too extreme to proceed with a deliberate mid-October rematch. A two-month delay to these plans ought to present sufficient time for the championship battle to land within the coronary heart of Riyadh Season.
There’s a query of whether or not the stakes will stay the identical.
Usyk was because of subsequent face IBF necessary challenger Filip Hrgovic (17-0, 14 KOs), No. 6 at heavyweight. Pre-fight rumors referred to as for the Usyk-Fury winner to be stripped of the IBF belt. That growth would have allowed the vacant title to be at stake for Hrgovic’s showdown with Daniel Dubois (20-2, 19 KOs) this Saturday in Riyadh.
The IBF has but to rule on the matter, and the choice might not come till after this weekend.
There may be the opportunity of an interim IBF title being made obtainable for Hrgovic-Dubois. That compromise would permit Usyk to enter the Dec. 21 rematch because the undisputed champion.
Usyk, The Ring pound-for-pound king, beforehand held the Ring/undisputed cruiserweight championship. The Ukrainian southpaw joined Claressa Shields, Terence Crawford, Katie Taylor and Naoya Inoue on the quick listing of two-division undisputed champions within the four-belt period. Crawford, Taylor, Inoue and Usyk have all achieved it inside the previous ten months.
The win over Fury noticed Usyk advance to 6-0 as a heavyweight. His title reign started with a Sept. 2021 victory over Anthony Joshua (27-3, 24 KOs) in North London to turn into the unified WBA/IBF/WBO titlist.
Fury was 5-0 in championship fights spanning two reigns previous to his defeat to Usyk.
Jake Donovan is a senior author for The Ring and vice chairman of the Boxing Writers Affiliation of America.
Observe @JakeNDaBox
