Promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom believes the undisputed fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk has taken a big hit in the wake of Fury’s performance against MMA veteran Francis Ngannou.
Last Saturday night in Saudi Arabia, Fury struggled to win a razor-close ten round split decision over Ngannou, who was making his professional boxing debut.
“I think Tyson is going to find it difficult over the next few weeks, because it’s going to be on top of him,” Hearn told The MMA Hour. “And he doesn’t like that. He won’t like the criticism. And he’ll probably take a break from social media or media and just sort of slip away, and say, ‘I’m going to just chill,’ and family time and Christmas and stuff like that. But it will hurt him, the criticism, because it’s massively tainted his legacy.”
Before the event even occurred, Fury already had a deal in place to collide with Usyk on December 23, also in Saudi Arabia.
Usyk was ringside and went face to face with Fury in the aftermath of the Ngannou fight.
However, Fury took more damage than expected and his showdown with Usyk is likely getting pushed back to early 2024.
During the fight, Fury was dropped in the third round, he sustained a cut on his forehead from an uppercut and his left eye was bruised and swollen.
Because of the stunning nature of last weekend’s fight, Hearn believes more people are now interested in a Fury-Ngannou rematch than the undisputed clash between Fury and Usyk.
“It’s an interesting dynamic now. I said after the interview, it was a bit of a snap reaction, that the Usyk-Fury fight is dead. It’s obviously not dead. It’s still a big fight. But the value of that fight has plummeted. Because really, you want to see him rematch Francis Ngannou. And I think Francis Ngannou now sits there with plenty of opportunities,” Hearn said.
“It’s actually amazing for boxing and MMA. A lot of people are saying, ‘This is terrible for boxing, some guy has just come in and beat Tyson Fury. It’s like, mate, do you know how many people are talking about boxing today? Actually, I just got back, I’ve been to the gym [and] everyone’s talking about it – and if you’re Francis Ngannou right now, you’re sitting there as one of the most valuable boxers in the world. And you’re right, he can go back into the MMA world and have a massive fight. Now he’s a huge name. Huge. Good luck to him.”