A date for Tyson Fury's undisputed world heavyweight title fight with Oleksandr Usyk is set to be announced on Thursday.
The 35-year-old was set to face the undefeated Ukrainian, who currently holds the WBA, IBF and WBO titles, on December 23rd. However, following his most recent fight with Francis Ngannou, the bout has been pushed back after Fury was left battered and bruised in a contentious points win over the former UFC heavyweight champion.
That fight was rumoured to be the preamble to the announcement of Fury taking on Usyk and with the pair even getting in the ring together following Fury's most recent victory. However, the swollen eye and cut on the forehead of the Gypsy King pushed back the widely-reported proposed date, but an announcement is expected for Thursday.
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Bob Arum, chief executive at Fury’s American promoter Top Rank, told Sky Sports: “I can confirm they will fight each other in Saudi Arabia. There will be a press conference in London for Thursday of this week – the 16th – and they’ll confirm the date and all the other circumstances of the fight taking place.
“Tyson is ready to fight in February, if that’s when it happens. Remember going in with Ngannou, who showed himself to be very talented, nobody had a book on him because he had never had a prize fight.
“Fighting Usyk is totally different because they have reams and reams of film on Usyk. So, I think Tyson will be a lot better prepared against Usyk than he was against Ngannou.
“I have great confidence in Tyson Fury. I really believe Fury against Usyk will be a classic match.”
Despite the highly-anticipated bout not going ahead on December 23rd, boxing fans may potentially be given their fix in the form of another British fighter. Anthony Joshua's next competitive fight against Otto Wallin is scheduled for that day, with the bout expected to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
