Tyson Fury (22-0, 14 KOs) and Oleksandr Usyk (34-1-1, 24 KOs) will face one another in a heavyweight championship rematch on Dec. 21 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The date was announced on X by Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority.
The rematch between the Undisputed Champion Oleksandr Usyk and the Champion Tyson Fury is now scheduled on the 21 of December 2024 during Riyadh Season…The world will watch another historical fight again…Our commitment to boxing fans continues…We hope you enjoy it…🥊🔥🇸🇦
— TURKI ALALSHIKH (@Turki_alalshikh) May 29, 2024
The two fighters met on May 18 at Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena with Usyk winning via split decision (115-112, 113-114, 114-113) to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion in 24 years. The loss was the first for Fury in his professional career.
Boxing had not seen a unified heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield in 1999.
Fury, 35, said after the fight that he felt he won citing sympathies with the 37-year-old Usyk’s Ukraine.
“His country’s at war, so people are siding with the country at war,” Fury said, “but make no mistake, I won that fight and I’ll be back. I’ve got a rematch clause.”
The boxers had signed a two-fight deal, so a rematch was inevitable. It was tentatively scheduled for October, but now has been pushed back to December.
Usyk’s undisputed reign will likely a short one, as the IBF title could be formally stripped ahead of the June 1 bout between mandatory challengers Filip Hrgovic and Daniel Dubois.
Should Usyk’s IBF title be stripped, promoter Eddie Hearn said that the Hrgovic-Dubois winner could then face Anthony Joshua in September for the vacant belt at Wembley Stadium in London.
Source Agencies
