Tyson Fury's heavyweight unification bout with Oleksandr Usyk has been rescheduled from December 23 to sometime in February following Fury's narrow victory over Francis Ngannou on Saturday night.
Ngannou delivered an unexpected performance in his boxing debut, which included knocking down the reigning WBC heavyweight champion. While Fury maintained his undefeated status and secured the victory on the scorecards, the 35-year-old was visibly marked by Ngannou's display.
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As a result, the British boxer is now inclined to take some time off to recuperate rather than rush into another training camp. The exact new date of the fight has yet to be confirmed.
"I don't think the date will be announced just yet. This fight is on. Both fighters want it. Tyson's got a cut . We'll see how it heals," said Fury's promoter Frank Warren.
“It's the biggest fight in boxing. Everybody wants to see it. They'll see it in Saudi, it'll break all box-office records.”
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Fury's displeasure with fight timing
Fury earlier expressed displeasure with the timing of the initial announcement of the bout with Usyk, which had occurred during his preparations for the Ngannou fight. The WBC heavyweight champion expressed strong reservations about revealing the fight announcement before its appropriate time, saying that anticipating future bouts before the current one concludes can often lead to unexpected outcomes.
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"It wasn't my choice. I would never in a million years do that, but the people who are putting these fights on, who are paying the money, they're in control. They're the promoters of the event," said Fury in an interview with The MMA Hour.
"I'm living for today and this moment. My moment now is to fight Francis for the 'baddest man on the planet' title, and when I've won that, only after I've won that, I won't even think about my next until I've had a week off and spent some time with my family. I've been in camp 12 weeks."
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Fury's close call against Ngannou
Fury holds the WBC title and is widely recognized as the top heavyweight in the field. He maintains an undefeated record as a professional. On the other hand, Ngannou is a newcomer in the professional boxing scene. His 10-round fight with Fury was his boxing debut.
Despite lacking professional boxing experience, Ngannou pushed Fury to his limits and came close to becoming the first man to defeat the lineal heavyweight champion in the ring.
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"He's given me probably one of my toughest fights in the last ten years," said "The Gypsy King."
Fury secured the win with scores of 96-93 and 95-94 on two of the judges' cards, with the third judge scoring 95-94 for Ngannou.
"The Predator," on the other hand, believed he was unfairly judged and expressed his desire for a rematch with Fury.
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"We can run it back again, and I'm sure I'm going to get better," Ngannou said, as quoted by Sky Sports.
"I know I came up short, now I know I can do this."
However, Fury's sights are now set on the long-awaited showdown with Usyk.
Fury is set to defend his WBC title against Usyk, who holds the WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring titles.