The unification fight for the world heavyweight boxing belts between the British Tyson Fury and the Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk will take place on February 17 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, its promoters announced this Thursday. Fury is the WBC heavyweight champion and his Ukrainian opponent holds the WBA, IBF and WBO belts.
“It’s a historic event”: the fight to unify the world boxing belts, heavyweight category, will take place on February 17 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between the fanciful Briton Tyson Fury and the Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk, they said. announced Thursday in London the organizers of the event.
🚨🚨 تايسون فيوري 🆚 أولكسندر أوسيك وجهًا لوجه 👀 نلتقي في 17 فبراير 2024 من أجل القتال 🇸🇦
🚨🚨 TYSON FURY 🆚 OLEKSANDR USYK
LE FACE À FACE 👀RDV LE 17 FEVRIER 2024 POUR LE COMBAT 🇸🇦#boxing #ufc #fighter pic.twitter.com/MsXYlK5xWk— mmamag.ma (@jamalsoussi10) November 17, 2023
“The whole boxing world has been waiting for this for many, many years, and now they have this fight,” Frank Warren, Fury’s promoter, boasted at a press conference in the British capital. “For the first time in this century, we will have an undisputed heavyweight champion,” Warren continued.
“This is a historic event. As a promoter, I’ve been banging my head against the wall for this. But now we’re going to have the cream of the crop: these two undefeated heavyweights.”
📷تايسون فيوري و📷ألكسندر أوسيك يواجهان 17 فبراير العام المقبل في "قتال تاريخي"
📷Tyson Fury and 📷Alexander Usyk will face off on February 17 next year in a “historic fight”#boxing #ufc #fighter pic.twitter.com/iONwWzcLAe— mmamag.ma (@jamalsoussi10) November 17, 2023
Fury, 35, and Usyk, 36, were initially scheduled to face each other on December 23, but the Briton’s unconvincing points success over MMA star Francis Ngannou on October 29 led to the unification fight being postponed .
The “Gipsy King” finished his match against Ngannou in bad shape, with a black eye and a cut on his forehead. Tyson Fury has 34 wins and one draw since his professional debut in 2008, Usyk has 21 wins in 21 professional fights.
In a combative mood during the press conference, Fury recalled his 2015 victory over Usyk’s fellow Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko, which gave him the WBA, IBF and WBO titles.
“I already relieved a Ukrainian of all the belts… and now I’m going to take them all back,” Fury promised.
“A FIGHT THAT WILL REMAIN FOREVER”
“Usyk is a champion, I am a champion. It will be a fight that will stay for eternity,” he assured. For the Briton, a victory over Usyk would confirm his status as the greatest boxer of all time.
“I believe we are both destined to be here. I am destined to become the undisputed champion and, even more, to consolidate my legacy,” said the “Gipsy King”.
Faced with insults and provocations from Fury, who notably attacked the size of his opponent and his ear ring in front of the press, Usyk knew how to keep his cool. “Yes, I am a small man.
I will speak in the ring,” replied the Ukrainian. Usyk won his three belts in September 2021 against the holder Anthony Joshua, before retaining them during a rematch organized in August 2022.
He barely kept them on August 26 in Wroclaw in Poland against British hopeful Daniel Dubois.
This last fight was organized at the request of the WBA after the failure of negotiations to organize a unification fight against Fury. The latter was held responsible for this failure and targeted by criticism, while their fight was initially scheduled for April at Wembley.Tyson
Fury, for his part, won his WBC heavyweight world championship belt against Deontay Wilder in 2020.
Saudi Arabia, often criticized for its lack of respect for human rights, has been trying to improve its image for several years by investing in particular in several publicized sports competitions. The oil monarchy has notably hosted several high-profile boxing events in recent years, including Usyk’s victory over Anthony Joshua in 2022.
