Advertisement

Tyson Fury to fight Oleksandr Usyk for undisputed heavyweight title, Fury's promoter says

  • FILE - Tyson Fury, right, lands a punch during his WBC heavyweight championship boxing match against Derek Chisora at Tottenham Hotspur's White Hart Lane stadium London, on Dec. 3, 2022. Tyson Fury will face Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia in the first fight this century to unify all of the four major heavyweight boxing titles, Fury's promoter Frank Warren said Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Ian Walton, File)
    1/5

    Boxing Fury Usyk

    FILE - Tyson Fury, right, lands a punch during his WBC heavyweight championship boxing match against Derek Chisora at Tottenham Hotspur's White Hart Lane stadium London, on Dec. 3, 2022. Tyson Fury will face Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia in the first fight this century to unify all of the four major heavyweight boxing titles, Fury's promoter Frank Warren said Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Ian Walton, File)
    ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • FILE - Ukraine's Oleksandr Usyk celebrates after beating Britain's Anthony Joshua to retain his world heavyweight title at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Aug. 21, 2022. Tyson Fury will face Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia in the first fight this century to unify all of the four major heavyweight boxing titles, Fury's promoter Frank Warren said Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
    2/5

    Boxing Fury Usyk

    FILE - Ukraine's Oleksandr Usyk celebrates after beating Britain's Anthony Joshua to retain his world heavyweight title at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Aug. 21, 2022. Tyson Fury will face Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia in the first fight this century to unify all of the four major heavyweight boxing titles, Fury's promoter Frank Warren said Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
    ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • Tyson Fury during a press conference at Outernet, London, Thursday Sept. 7, 2023. (James Manning/PA via AP)
    3/5

    Britain Boxing

    Tyson Fury during a press conference at Outernet, London, Thursday Sept. 7, 2023. (James Manning/PA via AP)
    ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • Keep up to speed at a glance with the Top 10 daily stories

    Yahoo News is better in the app

    Keep up to speed at a glance with the Top 10 daily stories

  • Tyson Fury during a press conference at Outernet, London, Thursday Sept. 7, 2023. (James Manning/PA via AP)
    4/5

    Britain Boxing

    Tyson Fury during a press conference at Outernet, London, Thursday Sept. 7, 2023. (James Manning/PA via AP)
    ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • FILE - Heavyweight boxers Britain's Anthony Joshua, center right, and Ukraine's Oleksandr Usyk, center left, face off during a weigh-in at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Friday, Aug. 19, 2022. Saudi Arabia's most recent venture into the global sports scene — purchasing a stake in the Professional Fighters League — is yet another example of the oil-rich kingdom using athletics to increase its influence.(AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
    5/5

    Fighters League Saudi Arabia

    FILE - Heavyweight boxers Britain's Anthony Joshua, center right, and Ukraine's Oleksandr Usyk, center left, face off during a weigh-in at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Friday, Aug. 19, 2022. Saudi Arabia's most recent venture into the global sports scene — purchasing a stake in the Professional Fighters League — is yet another example of the oil-rich kingdom using athletics to increase its influence.(AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
    ASSOCIATED PRESS
FILE - Tyson Fury, right, lands a punch during his WBC heavyweight championship boxing match against Derek Chisora at Tottenham Hotspur's White Hart Lane stadium London, on Dec. 3, 2022. Tyson Fury will face Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia in the first fight this century to unify all of the four major heavyweight boxing titles, Fury's promoter Frank Warren said Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Ian Walton, File)
FILE - Ukraine's Oleksandr Usyk celebrates after beating Britain's Anthony Joshua to retain his world heavyweight title at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Aug. 21, 2022. Tyson Fury will face Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia in the first fight this century to unify all of the four major heavyweight boxing titles, Fury's promoter Frank Warren said Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
Tyson Fury during a press conference at Outernet, London, Thursday Sept. 7, 2023. (James Manning/PA via AP)
Tyson Fury during a press conference at Outernet, London, Thursday Sept. 7, 2023. (James Manning/PA via AP)
FILE - Heavyweight boxers Britain's Anthony Joshua, center right, and Ukraine's Oleksandr Usyk, center left, face off during a weigh-in at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Friday, Aug. 19, 2022. Saudi Arabia's most recent venture into the global sports scene — purchasing a stake in the Professional Fighters League — is yet another example of the oil-rich kingdom using athletics to increase its influence.(AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
Associated Press
·2-min read

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk have agreed to fight in Saudi Arabia in the first bout this century to unify all of the major heavyweight boxing titles.

Fury holds the WBC version of the heavyweight title and Usyk has the IBF, WBA and WBO belts. Fury's British promoter Frank Warren announced the fight in a statement which did not give a date for the bout but said it will be held in the Saudi Arabian capital city of Riyadh.

Both fighters posted an image to social media Friday saying a deal for the fight between them was “SIGNED”.

“This is the biggest fight that could possibly be made in our sport. The heavyweights always spark the imagination of the fans, and I have no doubt this will be the biggest boxing event of the century,” Warren said in a statement.

The last fight to crown an undisputed heavyweight champion was in 1999, when Lennox Lewis beat Evander Holyfield. Lewis had to relinquish his WBA title the following year in a dispute over his next title defense.

Usyk (21-0) is coming off a defense against Daniel Dubois in Poland last month. The Ukrainian has beaten British opponents in all of his last four fights, including when he won his heavyweight titles off Anthony Joshua in 2021 and defended them in a rematch in Saudi Arabia the following year.

Usyk was previously the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in 2018 and 2019, the first to achieve that distinction in more than a decade.

Earlier talks for a Fury-Usyk fight fell apart in March, with Warren blaming a disagreement over terms for a rematch. Usyk had accepted Fury's demand for a 70-30 split of earnings in the British fighter's favor but his promoter Alex Krassyuk accused Fury of putting further obstacles in the way of a deal.

Instead, Fury arranged to fight ex-UFC champion Francis Ngannou in a non-title match in Saudi Arabia on Oct. 28. For Fury (33-0-1), that will be his first bout since beating fellow British fighter Derek Chisora in December.

___

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports