Usyk vs. Fury Unravels

Two weeks from today (Saturday, Feb, 17) Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury were set to touch gloves in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Barring a draw, the winner would become the first truly unified world heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis achieved this distinction when he out-pointed Evander Holyfield in their second meeting in 1999.

Unfortunately, the fight collapsed when Fury suffered a cut in sparring, The cut is reportedly above his right eye, the same location as the terrible cut that Fury suffered in his meeting with Otto Wallin at Las Vegas in September of 2019.

The Usyk-Fury fight was intended to be one of the cornerstones of Riyadh Season, a months-long entertainment, sports, and food festival that has no etched-in-stone beginning and end dates, but commences in October and runs until sometime in March. It’s presumed that it will take roughly three months for the cut to heal which would push it past the current iteration of Ridayh Season. If the match is rekindled with no change of venue, it may not take place until the fall.

According to various sources, Fury was injured while sparring with headgear with Agron Smakici. A 33-year-old Croatian southpaw, Smakici was knocked out in the opening round by Kazakh Palooka Zhan Kossobutskiy in 2019.

Whenever something like this happens, conspiracy theorists come out of the woodwork. The internet is now rife with rumors that Fury was out of shape and that the cut was fabricated to let him back out without losing face. Fury was quick to quiet this talk: “I will reschedule as soon as I can,” he posted on social media. “2024 is a massive year for Team Gypsy King.

It seems doubtful that the Saudis will proceed with the Feb.17 date without Fury in the mix. If the fight had gone forward, the winner was expected to fight Filip Hrgovic next.

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