The highly anticipated heavyweight championship clash between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk has been delayed due to Fury sustaining a cut during sparring, as announced by Queensbury Promotions on Friday. The originally scheduled bout for February 17th in Riyadh aimed to unify Fury’s WBC heavyweight title with Usyk’s WBA, IBF, WBO, and IBO belts, potentially crowning the first unified heavyweight boxing champion since 1999.
Expressing his disappointment, Fury, who is 35 years old and claimed the WBC championship in February 2020 by knocking out Deontay Wilder, stated, “I am absolutely devastated after preparing for this bout for so long and being in such superb condition. I feel bad for everyone involved.”
Queensbury Promotions spokesperson mentioned, “Once the doctors have assessed Tyson’s eye, we will have a better understanding of the required recovery period.”
Usyk, 37, secured his belts by outscoring Anthony Joshua in September 2021. Both fighters boast undefeated records in their professional careers. Fury assured, “I will work diligently towards the rescheduled date once the eye has healed. I can only apologize to everyone affected.”