LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Tyson Fury’s postponed world heavyweight title bout with Oleksandr Usyk has been rearranged for 18 May in Saudi Arabia, according to fight promoters on Saturday.
Fury had been due to face Usyk for the undisputed world heavyweight crown on 17 February in Riyadh.
But the eagerly-anticipated bout was postponed this week after the British fighter suffered a deep cut above his eye in training.
Revealing the new date on Saturday, a statement from Queensbury Promotions on X, formerly known as Twitter, read: “The undisputed heavyweight championship fight between @Tyson_Fury and @usykaa has been rescheduled to May 18th in Riyadh.”
The 35-year-old Fury required 11 stitches to the gash, apparently throwing into doubt the chances of the fight taking place in the short-term.
Usyk’s team had reportedly considered a bout with Croatian Filip Hrgovic as a late replacement.
But Saturday’s announcement puts Fury and the 37-year-old Ukrainian back on a collision course.
Usyk currently holds the World Boxing Organization, World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation titles, with Fury the World Boxing Council champion at present.
The last undisputed heavyweight champion was Lennox Lewis when he beat Evander Holyfield in 1999.
Fury has won 34 fights with one draw since turning professional in 2008.
His most recent fight was a controversial victory over former Ultimate Fighting Championship world champion Francis Ngannou in October.
