LONDON (Reuters) – The highly anticipated world heavyweight title unification fight between Tyson Fury of Britain and Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine has been rescheduled for May 18 in Riyadh, announced promoter Queensberry on Saturday.
The original bout, which was scheduled for February 17 in Riyadh, was postponed after Fury sustained a cut during sparring.
The fight, dubbed the “Ring of Fire”, was set to unify Fury’s WBC heavyweight championship with Usyk’s WBA, IBF, WBO, and IBO belts, and it would crown the first unified heavyweight boxing champion since 1999.
35-year-old Fury claimed his WBC championship title after defeating American Deontay Wilder in 2020, while 37-year-old Usyk secured his belts by outscoring Britain’s Anthony Joshua in 2021.
Both boxers boast undefeated records in their professional careers.
Frank Warren of Queensberry stated that Fury sustained the injury while sparring with a Croatian heavyweight, whose elbow accidentally caught Fury over the right eye, resulting in a cut that required significant stitching.
Saudi organisers Riyadh Season confirmed that tickets for the original fight would be refunded.
Reporting by Alan Baldwin; Editing by Mark Potter and Ed Osmond
