Over the past years, boxing fans have been eager to see the long-awaited confrontation between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usik, which would determine the new absolute world heavyweight champion. But every time something interfered with its implementation. Either the parties could not reach a consensus on the distribution of fees, or for some reason the Briton got involved in an adventure with Francis Ngannou, which is why he was forced to demand that the fight with the Ukrainian be postponed to a later date. It seemed that on February 17 this epic would finally end, but it was not to be. And again the culprit of what happened was the Gypsy King.
As it became known, during one of the training sessions, Fury received a deep cut on his right eyebrow, which in the future could create serious problems for him in the battle with Usik. And it was precisely because of this that it was again postponed indefinitely. As the holder of the WBC belt himself admitted, he is now absolutely devastated, because he has already managed to get into excellent shape. He also apologized to everyone involved in the boxing show and promised to resume training as soon as he recovers from his injury.
Of course, refusing a fight due to injury received during preparation is a valid reason. None of the athletes are immune from accidents, especially fighters who are forced to conduct tough training and sparring throughout the camp. There were several similar cases in 2023 alone. In March, the current undisputed bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue was injured, which is why their duel with Stephen Fulton had to be moved from May to the end of July. And then Artur Beterbiev found himself in a similar situation, contracting a jaw infection when there were only a couple of weeks left before his meeting with Callum Smith. As a result, it had to be postponed for six months, but this did not save the Briton. The Russian knocked him out in the seventh round and won the 20th straight early victory in his career.
But in the case of Fury and Usik, it is alarming that the organization of their fight is once again encountering difficulties. At one point, it might well seem as if the opponents themselves were not particularly eager to sort things out in the ring, either demanding more money or trying to add clauses of varying degrees of dubiousness to the contract. But even when the organizers from Saudi Arabia managed to persuade them to sign the agreement, the strange events did not stop. After all, what else can you call Tyson’s decision to agree to fight with Ngannou, if two months later he had to fight with Alexander? Even if he easily dealt with Francis, there would be very little time for recovery and preparation. After all, since 2019, the break between his performances has only once been less than six months. Then he first dealt with Tom Schwartz, and three months later - with Otto Wallin.
One way or another, the situation around the fight between Fury and Usik is beginning to more and more resemble the story of the UFC’s attempts to arrange a duel between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson. From 2015 to 2020, the promotion planned to bring them together in the Octagon five times, but each time something got in the way. And subsequently this landmark confrontation for the lightweight division never took place. First, the American lost devastatingly to Justin Gaethje and lost the title of contender, and then the Russian ended his career.
True, this situation is by no means new for boxing. The only difference is that if in MMA everything comes down to official announcements about the battle, then here it remains at the level of conversations. Suffice it to remember how many times in recent years a potential meeting between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol, the latter’s rematch with Saul Alvarez, or a battle between the same Fury and Anthony Joshua has been discussed. But we shouldn’t forget about how many years they tried to arrange the “Fight of the Century” between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. And they did this only when the Filipino had already passed his peak and was not so formidable.
And now there is a feeling that the fight between Fury and Usik may not take place at all. The Ukrainian celebrated his 37th birthday in January and is at the final stage of his career, and the Briton, although two years younger than his opponent, is unlikely to box until he is forty. He has hung up his gloves several times before and may well do so again if he continues to suffer injuries during preparation. By the way, it was precisely this advice that the rival’s manager Alexander Krasyuk came to him with.
Now much will depend on how long Tyson’s recovery will take and whether Alexander agrees to wait for him. After all, he may well go the other way and fight with the mandatory challenger for one of his belts - Mahmoud Charr or Zhang Zhilei. And thus he will receive not only a substantial fee, but also the opportunity to record another victory. And it will obviously be easier to deal with one of the above athletes than with the WBC champion.
As a result, the contraction may be postponed for several months and provoke a chain reaction. By this time, Ngannou will have already fought Joshua, and Fury would probably not mind arranging a rematch with him. After all, he was harshly criticized for his performance in the first duel and probably wants to prove that that failure was just an accident. And although no one would call Francis a whipping boy now, he is still not on the same level with Usyk.
Thus, now the fate of one of the most anticipated fights of recent years in boxing depends both on Usik himself and on the organizers of the show. If they incur additional costs and do not look for a new opponent for the Ukrainian, agreeing either to cancel the event or change the main fight, then they will retain the chances of seeing him in the near future. Otherwise, this battle could share the fate of the fight between Nurmagomedov and Ferguson. According to Boxing News, Alexander may soon face off against Filip Hrgovic, an undefeated Croatian with a record of 17-0.