Tyson Fury has postponed his February 17 against Oleksandr Usyk after suffering an injury in training. "I am absolutely devastated after preparing for this fight for so long and being in such superb condition. I feel bad for everyone involved in this huge event and I will work diligently towards the rescheduled date once the eye has healed. I can only apologize to everyone affected including my own team, Team Usyk, the undercard fighters, partners, and fans as well as our hosts and my friends in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," Fury said in a statement. Per the British fighter, he suffered an orbital laceration while sparring.
Fury and Usyk signed fight contracts last year for the first undisputed heavyweight fight in boxing's four-belt era. Fury currently holds the WBC belt while Usyk holds the WBA, IBF, and WBO belts. Fury and Usyk were originally scheduled for April 2023, with a fight slated for London's Wembley Stadium. However, the fight fell through at the last moment. Instead, Uysk fulfilled his mandatory WBA defense against Daniel Dubois in an August fight in Poland. Meanwhile, Fury has not fought since beating Derek Chisora in December.
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Francis Ngannou Wants Tyson Fury Rematch
Meanwhile, Usyk is not the only person looking to fight Fury. "The rematch is what I want next the most. As for right now I feel like there is a lot of options for me, but I want to choose wisely, and I would go for the rematch first," Ngannou told TMZ last November. Ngannou defied the odds to earn a split decision loss to Fury in their fight. Even Fury gave the former MMA fighter props. "He's given me probably one of my toughest fights in the last 10 years. He's a good boxer, He's a lot better than I thought he'd be and he gave me a good fight," Fury said after the bout.
Despite Fury standing date against Usyk, Ngannou wants his rematch first. "My best scenario in boxing is to wait for Fury. If Usyk can step out and let me fight Fury, I'll fight Fury, then I'll let them do whatever they do. I'll go back, maybe do some MMA fight and come back with some people in boxing," Ngannou explained. All of this now remains up in the air following Fury's withdrawal form the Usyk fight.
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