Fury v Usyk: Undisputed heavyweight title fight rescheduled for May 18 after 'freak' injury

The undisputed heavyweight title fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will go ahead on May 18 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia after the Briton suffered a cut that forced the bout to be postponed.

The event was supposed to take place on February 17 at the Kingdom Arena, where WBC champion Fury would face Usyk, holder of the WBA, IBF and WBO titles.

Fury was forced to pull out of the original date due to a cut that he obtained while sparring in Saudi Arabia, and Fury's promoters, Queensberry Promotions, have stated that the fight has now been rescheduled for just over three months' time.

Queensberry Promotions issued a statement to reveal that Fury would require surgery on his cut and therefore would not be able to fight in February, while the Brit also responded on his Instagram, insisting that he was "in fantastic shape" and that "what [he] could say was Usyk was in trouble".

Frank Warren, the owner of Queensberry Promotions, told TalkSport that Fury sustained his cut "in sparring with a Croatian heavyweight who caught his eye with his elbow".

The Gypsy King was set to return to Riyadh for the first time since his , who sent Fury to the canvas in round three of their bout.

Usyk, meanwhile, last fought in August 2023, , albeit also not without controversy, with Dubois seeing what he deemed a legitimate knockdown classed as a low blow, when he cleaved a right into the Ukrainian's beltline.

The winner of the fight between Fury and Usyk will become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999, when Lennox Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield in Paradise, Nevada, with Lewis winning by unanimous decision.

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