Redemption or Repeat? Fury-Usyk Rematch Set for December After Controversial Clash
An undisputed world heavyweight boxing championship rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury is set for December.
According to ESPN, Saudi Arabia General Entertainment Authority Chairman Turki Alalshikh announced Wednesday that the rematch will take place on Dec. 21 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
In their first bout, which also occurred in Riyadh on May 18, Usyk won by split decision, handing Fury the first loss of his professional career.
Although their first fight went to distance, Usyk knocked Fury down in the ninth round and had him staggered at times. One judge scored the fight 114-113 in favor of Fury, but the other two scored it 114-113 and 115-112 for Usyk.
Fury expressed his belief that he deserved to win the fight despite getting knocked down, and made a controversial comment about Usyk receiving preferential treatment since his home country of Ukraine is at war, telling ESPN:
“I believe I won the fight, but I’m not going to sit here and cry and make excuses. I believe he won a few of the rounds, but I won the majority of them. What can you do? We both put on a good fight, the best we could do. … People are siding with the country at war. But make no mistake, I won that fight … and I’ll be back. We’ve got a rematch clause.”
In addition to retaining the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, and The Ring heavyweight titles with the win over Fury, Usyk also won the WBC heavyweight title.
That made the Ukrainian star the first unified heavyweight champion in boxing since Lennox Lewis in 1999, per ESPN.
With the win, Usyk improved to 22-0 in his pro career, and he has now been a unified champion in both the heavyweight and cruiserweight divisions.
Meanwhile, the 35-year-old Fury fell to 34-1-1. The only previous blemish on the Brit’s record was a draw against Deontay Wilder in 2018.
Usyk and Fury signed a two-fight deal, but while the rematch was initially supposed to happen in October, the date has been pushed back to December, giving both boxers more time to prepare.
