The impending heavyweight showdown between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk is reportedly set to be pushed back with a February 2024 date outlined for their mouth-watering bout.
Manchester-born Fury and Ukrainian opponent Usyk will go toe-to-to in Saudi Arabia with an aim to become the first undisputed champion in the four-belt heavyweight era. A deal for that blockbuster fight has been agreed but no firm date has been pencilled into the diary.
A report from ESPN indicates February has been earmarked as the month they will eventually square up.
Fury, 35, edged passed former UFC champion Francis Ngannou on Saturday night. However, the Morecambe man did not have things his own way entirely before earning a split points decision win.
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Ngannou - making his boxing debut after switching across from MMA - managed to send Fury to the canvas with fight fans treated to a real spectacle. After the bout, which was also held in Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh, Fury met Usyk in the ring as attentions now turn to their unification scrap.
Fury holds the WBC belt while Usyk retained his WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO straps during a knockout win over Briton Daniel Dubois in August. All those prizes will be on the line when Fury and Usyk eventually collide.
Speaking before Fury got down to business with Ngannou in their crossover fight, Anthony Joshua suggested that he could meet American superstar Deontay Wilder on the Fury vs Usyk card. Joshua, 34, hinted that organisers have been looking at a potential March/April date for that mooted mega card double.
Joshua - who won Olympic gold at London 2012 before turning professional and becoming world champion - has three defeats on his record from 29 fights. Usyk defeated the Watford-born heavyweight twice between 2021 and 2022 to wrestle away his belts as the latter now prepares to defend his '0' against an also unbeaten Fury.
