Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury have finally agreed to fight one another, meaning that one fighter will lose their undefeated record unless there’s an unlikely draw. However, first Fury must face Francis Ngannou on Oct. 28, and ‘The Gypsy King’s’ promoter admitted he won’t be able to fight Usyk in December if he leaves the ring with battle wounds.
A preliminary date has been set for Usyk and Fury, with Dec. 23 on the table following a request from the chairman of The General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia, Turki Alalshikh.
Fury has been linked with fighting Usyk or Anthony Joshua for some time, but has finally agreed to do so and a win could see him earn status as the greatest heavyweight of his generation. But with the planned fight falling just eight weeks after his bout with Ngannou, there are some concerns.
The betting markets may overwhelmingly favor Fury, but that doesn’t mean the 6-foot-9 giant won’t get hurt in the fight. And Fury’s co-promoter, Bob Arum, has admitted that any physical issues could push back his fight with Usyk.
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“It depends primarily on Fury’s condition after this Ngannou fight,” Arum said to BoxingScene. “If Fury emerges with no hand problems, no cuts, and so forth, it’ll be earlier rather than later. But it’ll be in the winter. It’ll be in the winter and will be certainly before Ramadan.”
Arum also said he wishes that the fight with Usyk hadn’t been announced until after the Ngannou fight, due to the pressure it adds. If Fury loses to Ngannou then his fight with Usyk is almost irrelevant, and it causes distractions too.
“Our deal with the Saudis, Frank Warren and ourselves, is they take our advice, but they’re putting up the money,” Arum added. “And if they’re putting up the money, they have the right to say the date, time and everything.
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“I’m not so thrilled with the timing of the announcement. But again, they know more than I do as far as what’s going on in the kingdom and so forth, so we go along with it.”
Ngannou has already threatened Fury as he looks to play mind games and posted that he’d ensure that the Usyk fight won’t happen this year. “I don’t know what’s the minimum medical suspension in boxing but I really don’t understand how Tyson can fight in December after what’s going to happen on 10/28,” Ngannou posted, suggesting he plans to do enough damage to stop the Usyk fight.
Fury has 33 wins from 34 fights with one draw while Usyk is 21-0. Ngannou is 17-3 in MMA with 12 knockouts, but the boxing ring is uncharted territory for the Cameroonian-French fighter.
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