WBO, IBF, IBO, WBA heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk is hoping that his undisputed clash with WBC champion Tyson Fury will land in the month of February.
Their fight was being pegged to land on December 23 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
However, last month, Fury took more punishment than expected in a crossover boxing match with former UFC world champion Francis Ngannou.
The fight was expected to play out as a one-sided mismatch, but instead Fury was dropped hard in the third round, he was cut on his forehead and his left eye was badly bruised.
“That definitely wasn’t in the script,” Fury said to TNT Sports.
“I got caught round the back of the head [for the knockdown]. I wasn’t hurt. I got up and got back to my boxing. He’s an awkward man and a good puncher and I respect him a lot. He’s given me one of my toughest fights of the last 10 years.”
Fury was able to walk away with a ten round split decision win, but his handlers made it clear that he needed more time to physically recover from that fight.
Usyk is crossing his fingers for a date in the early months of 2024.
“It could be February and I would very much like it to be February,” Usyk told Reuters. “I was ready to fight on the 23rd but since Fury got some injuries in the last fight, a knockdown, then probably it will be postponed to next year.
“I’ll just do more technical work. Technically, nothing changes. I just have a little more time for some additional tasks, and that’s it. I don’t think about Tyson Fury at all … I think about myself, about my team, about my family. I don’t need to think about my opponent. I just need to be with him, fight and that’s it.”
Usyk saw action back in August, when he knocked out mandatory challenger Daniel Dubois to retain his belts.