His Excellency Turki Alalshikh has revealed that the Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk rematch will occur on December 21st in Riyadh.
The former WBC heavyweight champion Fury will be out to avenge his twelve-round split decision defeat suffered by the unified champion Usyk on May 18th.
That was a bitter pill for Fury to swallow, and he didn’t take it too well in the immediate aftermath. He claimed he deserved the win and came up with an oddball theory on why the judges gave it to Usyk, talking about the war in Ukraine. It was an example of sore loser-dom.
Why the Delay?
Alalshikh doesn’t say why the Fury-Usyk rematch isn’t happening in October as part of the original plan. Still, likely, the punishment that the 35-year-old Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) sustained in the ninth round is the reason for the extra two months delay.
Fury took a beating in the ninth, and many fans felt that the referee saved him from being knocked out by jumping in the right at the precise moment when Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) was about to land the coup de grace to KO, the badly hurt giant.
The extra time that Fury is being given May not help. Of course, you can’t rule out a postponement or two initated by the Gypsy King due to training camp injuries. We’ve already seen that in the past. But assuming neither fighter is injured in camp preparing for the December 21st rematch, it’s still much of a break for Fury to recover from the fight on May 18th.
Can Fury Bounce Back?
Fury’s fans believe he’ll be more aggressive in the rematch, fighting on the front foot and attacking Usyk like he attacked Deontay Wilder in their second fight. The Gypsy King had his best success against Usyk when he fought aggressively in rounds six and seven.
Usyk’s movement and counter-punching ability quickly caused Fury to re-think his aggressive strategy in the eighth round when he was nailed by a big left on the snoot, bloodying it, causing him to retreat to the ropes to nurse his injured beak. That was where things fell apart for the giant, as he was badly hurt in round nine, and it was all downhill from there.
It may not help Fury fight aggressively, as Usyk will counter him and look to capitalize on his inability to deal with sustained combination punching. Knowing how the judges scored the fight last time, Usyk will want to ensure he does not receive a controversial decision.
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…🥊🔥🇸🇦
— TURKI ALALSHIKH (@Turki_alalshikh) May 29, 2024
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