Tyson Fury versus Anthony Joshua battle is now in danger following Oleksandr Usyk’s defeat.
Fury and Joshua were scheduled to fight in February, but that date has now likely been pushed back following Usyk’s undisputed heavyweight world title victory.
The match between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua is in jeopardy following Oleksandr Usyk’s uncontested victory.
Usyk defeated Fury in a split decision this past weekend in Saudi Arabia to become the first undisputed heavyweight world champion in 25 years. Fury had the upper hand in the first half of the battle, but Usyk turned it around and nearly knocked Fury out in the tenth round, but the Brit refused to back down.
Fury and Usyk will be contractually forced to fight for the second time in October as their undisputed clash had a two-way rematch clause. Assuming the rematch happens, Fury could take the score to one apiece if he gets his revenge which would inevitably set up a trilogy fight and push his fight against ‘AJ’ back from its planned February date.
Tyson Fury was bested by Oleksandr Usyk over 12 thrilling rounds.
Usyk’s undisputed status won’t last for long as he will soon be stripped of his IBF title, with mandatory challenger Filip Hrgovic waiting in the wings.
The belt will be put up for grabs when Hrgovic fights Daniel Dubois in June, with the winner of that fight expected to then face ‘AJ’ in September.
The Ukrainian said he doesn’t want to talk about boxing plans after spending nine months in training camp to prepare for his fight with Fury. “My start was October 2023, November, December. Nine months I work, I missed New Year. I missed the birthday of my son, I missed the birthday of my other son,” he said.
“I missed the birthday of my daughter, I missed the birth of my daughter. I missed all of my family holidays, all the time training. My focus was only this fight, now I’m happy. I want to go back home.” Fury, who has since returned to his home in Morecambe, blamed the ongoing war in Usyk’s home country as one of the reasons he lost the fight.
“I believe I won that fight,” Fury said. “I think he won a few of those rounds but I won the majority of them. His country is at war, so people are siding with the country at war. Make no mistake, I won that fight in my opinion. I’ve had a split decision loss with a little man. Good luck, God bless you.”