The heavyweight unification bout between WBC champion, Tyson Fury and WBA, WBO and IBF champion, Oleksandr Usyk has been rescheduled for May 18.
The 35-year-old Fury had been due to fight Usyk who is 37 on the 17th of February, but withdrew from the contest on Friday after sustaining a deep cut in sparring.
Their bout in Saudi Arabia will crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion in the four-belt era.
Following Friday’s announcement that the fight had been postponed, Usyk wished Fury a speedy recovery and said he was ready to fight for undisputed title any time, anywhere.
The Ukrainian had been in talks to fight Filip Hrgovic of Croatia as a replacement for Fury on the February date.
Hrgovic is the mandatory challenger to Usyk’s IBF belt and there were fears he could be stripped of that title if Fury was sidelined for several months.
But Saudi Arabian organisers and Team Fury moved quickly to secure a new date for the undisputed bout.
It is the third time since 2023 that a fight date between Usyk and Fury has been rescheduled.
Event organiser Turki Alalashikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s general entertainment authority, said if either Usyk or Fury withdrew from the new date, they would forfeit 9.3 million pounds to the other fighter.
There has not been an undisputed boxing heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield in 1999.
It has also been announced that Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev will fight on the 1st of June in a light-heavyweight undisputed bout between two undefeated champions.
Bivol holds the WBA Super title while Beterbiev has the WBO, IBF and WBC belts.
The Russians will headline Matchroom’s five-versus-five card against Queensberry Promotions where five of Eddie Hearn’s best fighters will fight five of Frank Warren’s best.
It continues Saudi Arabia’s massive spending in the sport of boxing with Anthony Joshua versus Francis Ngannou the next major event set to take place in the kingdom on the 9th of March.