Wednesday, July 15, 2026

New date for Fury, Usyk’s heavyweight bout out Thursday

“I can confirm they will fight each other in Saudi Arabia,” Mr Arum said.

• November 15, 2023
Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk
Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk

A popular American lawyer and boxing promoter, Bob Arum, has said a new date for the undisputed heavyweight fight between Tyson ‘Gypsy King’ Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will be announced on Thursday in London. .

In September, Fury and Usyk put pen to paper for an undisputed heavyweight fight scheduled for December 23 in Saudi Arabia. But after Fury’s fight with Francis Ngannou last month, a new date was mooted for February next year.

Arum, who is the founder and CEO of Top Rank, Fury’s promoter, in an interview with Sky Sports News on Wednesday, said a new date for the bout would be announced on Thursday at a press conference in London.

“I can confirm they will fight each other in Saudi Arabia,” Mr Arum said. “There will be a press conference in London, Thursday of this week, and they’ll confirm the date and all the other circumstances about the fight taking place. But yes, the fight will be taking place.”

Fury was dropped on the canvas in the third round, had a cut on his forehead and a welt under one of his eyes but fought his way to victory via split decision against Ngannou, a mixed martial artist making a professional boxing debut, in a 10-round non-title heavyweight bout.

Mr Arum said Fury “is ready to fight in February, if that’s when it happens. Going in with Ngannou, who showed himself to be very talented, nobody had a book on him because he never had a prize fight.

“Fighting Usyk is totally different because they have reams and reams of film on Usyk. I think Tyson will be a lot better prepared against Usyk than he was against Ngannou. I have great confidence in Tyson Fury. He’s a great competitor and he’ll be at his best against Usyk.

The long awaited bout would see Fury and Usyk trade punches in battle for supremacy in Saudi Arabia. Both men are coming into the fight with sterling career records.

Thirty-five-year-old Fury since he turned professional in 2008 has remained unbeaten, winning 33 fights and drawing just one. Twenty four of Fury’s victories were via knock out.

Usyk also has remained unbeaten in all 21 fights in his professional career, winning 14 via knock out.

We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.

More from Peoples Gazette

farmers

Agriculture

FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology

The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices

Katsina State

Politics

Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku

“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”

police

States

Police say three alleged vandals nabbed, multimillion-naira rail tracks recovered

The police command in Oyo state arrested three suspects in connection with the vandalism and theft of railway tracks valued at N200 million.

Governor Alex Otti

States

Otti directs immediate implementation of NYSC allowances

Mr Otti gave the directive in his office on Tuesday while receiving the new NYSC coordinator, Yunusa Tanimu, in Nvosi, Isiala Ngwa South council area.

: Basketmouth, Tinubu

Anti-Corruption

I would have become Nigeria’s president now if I had been drug dealer, fraudster: Basketmouth

“If I had started a church business. Sorry. If I had joined evangelism. I would have been Daddy G.O. owning two private jets, one university,” stated Basketmouth.

Ibadan men nabbed for kidnapping five-year-old girl

States

Ibadan men nabbed for kidnapping five-year-old girl, demanding N10 million ransom

The suspects, Adegboye Seyi Sunday and Adegboye Elijah Adefemi, were nabbed in Ibadan by the police.

Liang Wenfeng

Economy

World’s Richest AI Creator: Meet Deepseek founder Liang Wenfeng worth $36 billion

Ranked among China’s 100 richest people, Mr Liang was on Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in AI in 2025 and on Fortune’s 100 Most Powerful People in Business.

69th annual general meeting of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association in Lagos

Economy

FG expresses commitment to improving ease of doing business

FG says it remains committed to improving the ease of doing business, strengthening investor confidence and implementing policies that encourage enterprise growth.