Tyson Fury is set to face former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Francis Ngannou, on October 28th, 2023, in Saudi Arabia, and now has signed on to face Oleksandr Usyk in an undisputed title fight that is reportedly targeted for late December or January.
According to reports, it’s the goal of Turki Alalshikh, chairman of The General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia, to see the heavyweight unification bout take place as soon as possible, with the final weekend of 2023 being a potential date to showcase the matchup at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This would require Fury to return to the ring eight weeks following the upcoming Ngannou bout and do so in top form.
“It depends primarily on Fury’s condition after this Ngannou fight,” Arum said. “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,” says Fury’s co-promoter, Bob Arum.
Ramadan, the Muslim month for fasting, prayer and reflection, is scheduled to begin March 10, 2024 and conclude on April 8, 2024.
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Arum detailed that he would have preferred that the Fury vs Usyk announcement have taken place following the Ngannou bout, in the event he suffers an injury or loses. An unlikely event would likely delay the fight date.
“I’m not so thrilled with the timing of the announcement,” said Arum. “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. Could this announcement have waited until after the (upcoming Ngannou) fight? Of course. But again, they’re putting up the money. Understand that.”
With further details of the title unification bout pending, Fury and Ngannou continue training with their respective camps, in anticipation for their 10-round exhibition.
Sharpening the tools 🛠️#FuryNgannou | OCT 28 | @RiyadhSeason pic.twitter.com/Hy22YKzri5
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) October 2, 2023