Tyson Fury’s undisputed world heavyweight title fight with Oleksandr Usyk – aka the “Ring of Fire” clash – is set for May 18.
The much-hyped encounter had originally been due to take place in Saudi Arabia in February but was postponed after the Briton suffered a “freak cut” above the eye in training.
It is the second time his planned fight with Usyk has been delayed after an initial slot in December failed to materialise.
When is Fury v Usyk?
The undisputed heavyweight clash between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will take place on Saturday, May 18, 2024. The fight had originally been scheduled for February 17.
Where is the fight being held?
The bout will be in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
How can I watch it in the UK?
In a unique move for an event of this magnitude, the fight will be available via DAZN, Sky Sports and TNT Sports in the UK.
The will cost £24.95 on Sky and £24.99 for new DAZN customers (price also includes a free month’s subscription to the streaming service). It will cost £23.99 for existing customers.
TNT Sports Box Office will charge viewers £24.99 to watch the fight.
Why was the the fight rescheduled?
The fight was postponed from its original date on February 17 to May 18 after Fury suffered a cut above his eye in sparring caused by an elbow from Agron Smakici.
Smakici tells the story of how the dreaded cut opened up above Fury’s eye that postponed the undisputed clash.
“It was a strange day. Throughout the two weeks, I was sparring with him [Fury] we did hard sparring in the evenings but that day it was at about midday. During the spar, there was a lot of wrestling, and I also do professional wrestling so I had some good moments keeping him in the wrong positions. He was joking around, as he always does, and we were roughing
each other up on the inside.”
Leaked footage from their final sparring session together appeared to show that an elbow caused the cut but Smakici insists this was accidental. “When you see the punch, I know I shot a clear punch but the way he held my head, he was pulling my head forward to him. So, that’s maybe why the elbow came through also. But it was a punch first of all. It was a freak accident.”
What’s at stake?
Boxing will have an undisputed heavyweight champion again after what Fury himself has called a “fight for the ages”.
Fury holds the WBC belt, which he won in 2020 when he beat Deontay Wilder. He has defended that belt three times, against Wilder, Dillian Whyte and, most recently, Derek Chisora.
Usyk has held the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles since beating Anthony Joshua in 2021. He had defended those titles twice: against Joshua and Daniel Dubois.
Both Fury and Usyk are undefeated so far in their professional boxing careers. The winner will become the first undisputed heavyweight champion in the four belt era.
The last time boxing had a unified and undisputed heavyweight champion was in 2000 when Lennox Lewis held all four titles.