Fury-Usyk undisputed fight reportedly set for February 17th in Riyadh

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Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk are reportedly set to meet in an undisputed heavyweight contest on February 17th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, according to ESPN’s Mike Coppinger.

The fight will form part of the ‘Riyadh Season’ which stretches from October to March.

It was originally planned for the pair to collide on December 23rd before Fury was dropped before eventually outpointing Francis Ngannou last month.

Usyk currently holds the WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight titles while Fury holds the WBC belt.

Boxing’s first ‘undisputed’ heavyweight fight in over two decades

Should Fury and Usyk meet next year as planned, the fight will see the sport’s first undisputed heavyweight clash since Lennox Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield over two decades ago.

Talks initially took place for the pair to meet earlier this year before negotiations collapsed in March.

Usyk went on to defend against WBA mandatory challenger Daniel Dubois in August while Fury battled to overcome MMA star Ngannou in a non-title fight on October 28th in Riyadh.

Both men came face-to-face following Fury’s win last month after over a year of rumours and negotiations to crown the number one heavyweight on the planet.

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Above: Ngannou stunned Fury with a third-round knockdown in Saudi Arabia last month. Photo by Getty Images.

“It’s been going on a long time. We were supposed to fight in April at Wembley, it never happened. Let’s do the fight over here [in Saudi Arabia]. His Excellency Turki Al Sheikh is going to put the fight on for all the belts, the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world,” Fury said.

The fight will be Fury’s fourth time defending the WBC belt he won with a seventh-round TKO of former belt-holder Deontay Wilder in their rematch back in February 2022.

The Briton faced the American for a third time 20 months later, stopping Wilder in round eleven after picking himself up off the canvas in round four, before defending against Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora in UK stadiums last year.

Usyk meanwhile captured the unified heavyweight titles with a dominant unanimous decision showing against Anthony Joshua in September 2021.

The pair faced-off in a rematch in Jeddah eleven months later where Usyk won a split-decision in defence of his belts.

The Ukrainian most recently defeated Daniel Dubois with an eighth-round TKO in Wroclaw, Poland three months ago.

The Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship will take place on Feb. 17 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, sources told ESPN. Fight was originally planned for Dec. 23 before Fury’s far tougher-than-expected battle with Francis Ngannou.
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) November 14, 2023