The highly anticipated clash between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk has its new date scheduled for Saturday, May 18, when the pair of undefeated heavyweight champions battles it out for the undisputed title. The fight takes place at the same location – Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The original date in February fell off after Fury got cut above his eye and was forced to withdraw. The entire event was taken off the schedule.
A new date was confirmed today on “The MMA Hour”. The participants appeared via video link. British WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury was with Saudi Arabia’s Minister and the current Chairman of General Authority for Entertainment Turki Alalshikh, who made the announcement. Ukrainian unified WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk was with his manager Egis Klimas. All parities agreed on a date.
The bout between 35-year-old Tyson Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs) of Manchester, England and 37-year-old southpaw Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) of Simferopol, Crimea, Ukraine is set to crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion the four-belt era.
The bouts originally scheduled for Fury vs Usyk undercard are expected to also be moved to the date in May, unless issues with mandatory challengers in the title fights. Among the matchups, Welsh IBF super featherweight champion Joe Cordina was set to face Anthony Cacace of Northern Ireland. Plus, Australian former world champion Jai Opetaia and Latvian former world champion Mairis Briedis were scheduled to square off in a rematch with the vacant IBF cruiserweight title on the line.
Additionally, it was announced that the fight between the unified WBC, WBO and IBF light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and the WBA titleholder Dmitry Bivol was locked in for June.