The much-anticipated heavyweight championship rematch between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk is scheduled for December 21 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
This announcement was made on Wednesday by Turki Alalshikh, the Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority.
Earlier this month, Usyk achieved the status of undisputed heavyweight champion by narrowly defeating Fury in their first encounter, which ended in a split decision.
The judges’ scores were close: one had it 114-113 in favor of Fury, but the other two scored it 114-113 and 115-112 for Usyk, securing his victory.
Usyk’s win marked him as the first unified heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield in their 1999 rematch in Las Vegas.
The loss was a significant moment for Fury, marking the first defeat of his professional career.
The fighters had initially agreed to a two-fight deal, with the rematch set for October 12. However, Alalshikh’s recent announcement confirms the rescheduling of the bout to the end of 2024.
Taking to his X handle, Alalshikh wrote, “The rematch between the Undisputed Champion Oleksandr Usyk and the Champion Tyson Fury is now scheduled on the 21 of December 2024 during Riyadh Season…The world will watch another historical fight again… Our commitment to boxing fans continues…We hope you enjoy it.”
After their first bout, Fury stated in the ring that he is determined to rectify his record in the upcoming rematch.
“I believe I won the fight, but I’m not going to sit here and cry and make excuses,” Fury said. “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.
Earlier this week, Tyson Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren, expressed confidence that the British boxer could reverse the outcome in the rematch.
“I think he can, he believes he can…,” Warren told Sky Sports. “It was a fight of two halves, Tyson knows what he has to do and I’m sure Usyk does. Both of those guys were in an absolute war, that has taken a lot out of both of them.
“It will be interesting to see when it does happen who it has impacted the most.”
