Oleksandr Usyk names his date as he waits on Tyson Fury heavyweight showdown
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Oleksandr Usyk has claimed that he is aiming to fight Tyson Fury in February 2024 to compete for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world. Last month, both boxers agreed a deal to fight in late December but have yet to officially announce a date with Fury’s bout against former UFC champion Francis Ngannou taking priority.
Contracts between the pair were signed when the fight was first announced. The bout would see the heavyweight belts from all four of boxing’s major sanctioning bodies up for grabs – WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO.
Fury is the current WBC heavyweight champion, while Usyk holds the IBF, WBO and WBA Super World Heavyweight championships.
The Ukrainian boxer has already checked into a training camp in Valencia, Spain, ahead of the contest which he hopes is only a matter of months away.
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“It could be February and I would very much like it to be February,” he said to The Guardian. “I was ready to fight on [December] 23rd but since Fury got some injuries in the last fight, a knockdown, then probably it will be postponed to next year.”
“I’ll just do more technical work. Technically, nothing changes,” he added. “I just have a little more time for some additional tasks, and that’s it.
“I don’t think about Tyson Fury at all… I think about myself, about my team, about my family. I don’t need to think about my opponent. I just need to be with him, fight and that’s it.”
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The fight would be Usyk’s first since defeating Daniel Dubois to defend his unified heavyweight titles. The 36-year-old maintained his undefeated record of 21 fights with a ninth-round stoppage win against the Brit back in August.
Fury’s last bout saw him compete outside the traditional boxing route when he faced former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. The pair fought in an exhibition bout in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia which saw Fury claim the win via a controversial split decision.
Despite the bout not counting towards each other’s records, Fury remains undefeated with a record of 34 professional fights and one draw – against Deontay Wilder.
Usyk was in attendance to watch Fury fight Ngannou where he faced off against The Gypsy King in the ring after the final bell. The pair traded verbal blows in a tense staredown which is expected to be their last meeting before the media rounds ahead of the undisputed fight.
The fight would be the first undisputed heavyweight clash since Lennox Lewis in 1999. Lewis fought Evander Holyfield twice – drawing once and winning the other – to retain his WBC title, take Holyfield’s WBA and IBF titles and claim the vacant IBO title.
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