After near-disaster vs. Ngannou, Fury's fight with Usyk delayed

Undisputed title bout won't take place Dec. 23 as initially planned; former UFC champion weighing options after disputed loss

Dan Rafael

Nov 01, 2023

A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: I created Fight Freaks Unite in January 2021 and eight months later it also became available for paid subscriptions for additional content — and as a way to help keep this newsletter going and for readers to support independent journalism. If you haven’t upgraded to a paid subscription please consider it. If you have already, I truly appreciate it! Also, consider a gift subscription for the Fight Freak in your life.

Follow me on Instagram

Subscribe to the podcast

Give a gift subscription

Leave a comment

The plan for heavyweight champion Tyson Fury to return to the ring to square off with three-belt titleholder Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed championship on Dec. 23, just eight weeks after facing Francis Ngannou, always seemed like a long shot.

Now the date is off the table and the four-belt unification fight — the first ever in the heavyweight division — will not happen in December after Fury was pushed to the brink in a near-disastrous and embarrassing display against the former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou, who crossed over to boxing for his professional debut in the sport on Saturday at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and nearly beat the champion. Many thought he deserved the decision.

Fury, the lineal champion (whose WBC belt was not at stake in the 10-rounder), made Ngannou look like a seasoned boxing contender. Fury, who did not appear to be in top shape at a fleshy 277.7 pounds, suffered a cut on his forehead in the second round, shockingly got knocked down with a left hand in the third round, wound up with bruising and swelling around his left eye, and generally struggled to a decision win — 96-93 and 95-94 with one judge scoring it 95-94 for Ngannou — in a fight he was universally expected to dominate.

After the fight with Ngannou had been signed, the fight with Usyk for all four belts was signed and penciled in for Dec. 23, also in Riyadh as part of Saudi Arabia’s spending spree on world class sports events

Now that fight, which dramatically lost luster with Fury’s poor showing, will move into next year, probably in February. Fury-Ngannou opened the annual Riyadh Season cultural festival. It ends in February and the Saudis want Fury-Usyk to take place before it closes.

Upgrade to a paid subscription for full access to all posts and comments — and help support independent journalism

Upgrade to paid

In the ring after the fight with Ngannou, Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs), 35, of England, downplayed the likelihood of a new date after getting cut, knocked around and having one of the hardest fights of his career.

“Listen, it’s not up to me,” Fury said of the date he would meet Usyk, who was standing a few feet away from him. “I’m a fighter, (Usyk is) a fighter. I’m sure we’d go now. Let’s go now if you want, but listen, these guys will sort it all out and it’ll be our next fight, guaranteed.

“His Excellency (Turki Alalshikh of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, which bankrolled the Ngannou fight and will do the same for the Usyk bout) is going to put the fight on for all the belts. The undisputed heavyweight championship of the world. Let’s go my brother! Let’s go!”

Usyk responded to Fury, “Let’s go. Simple answer. We’re back (in) this ring 23 December. I’m ready to fight. Thank you so much. I go sleep.”

In the days since the fight, Usyk continued to press the issue that the fight had to take place on Dec. 23 because of their contract, but he surely knows the date was never set in stone. There was no way to cement Dec. 23 as the date without knowing what would happen on Saturday, when an injury, cut or rough fight was always a possibility even if most thought it unlikely.

Queensberry Promotions’ Frank Warren, Fury’s co-promoter with Top Rank, acknowledged the date would move from December.

“I don’t think the date will be announced yet, in my opinion,” Warren said. “But the fight is wanted. It’s done. This man done it here, His Excellency (Alalshikh). This fight is on. These guys both want it. And it’s just a matter of now setting the date.

“Tyson’s got a cut there, so it’s no good saying a date once he’s got a cut on top of his head. Let’s see how that heals. But this fight is on. It’s the biggest fight in boxing, the biggest fight in boxing. Everybody wants to see it, and they’re gonna see it here in Saudi, in Riyadh Season, where it’s gonna break all box office records. This is the biggest fight out there.”

As for Ngannou (0-1 in boxing, 17-3, 12 KOs, 4 submissions in MMA), 37, of Cameroon, he may have lost the fight but clearly won the event given all of the positive feedback he has received worldwide for his performance.

He has options. He has an MMA deal with the PFL and could return to MMA for his next event. He said in an interview on the “MMA Hour” there has already been conversation about an MMA bout between him and former WBC heavyweight boxing titleholder Deontay Wilder, who is 0-2-1 against Fury in a memorable trilogy.

“I think that’s a good idea,” Ngannou said during the interview. “In fact, we have spoken about that. That has been in the discussions. So that’s something that can potentially happen. Nothing is set, but it’s been something been coming to my attention, so that’s something that makes sense. He’s really serious about MMA.”

But perhaps Ngannou will remain in boxing, which was his original dream before turning pro in MMA. Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, for example, has said he has reached out to him to gauge his interest in boxing against former two-time unified heavyweight titleholder Anthony Joshua.

The WBC was impressed enough with Ngannou’s performance that the narrow one-point defeat likely will land him in the organization’s next set of heavyweight rankings as he qualifies under its rules.

“I have recommended to the ratings committee based on, one, his performance in losing a split decision and knocking down the current WBC champion and, two, the WBC ratings criteria provide as a parameter activity in the Olympic Games and/or other combat sports,” WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman, who was ringside for Fury-Ngannou, told Fight Freaks Unite.

Boxing Social

I joined my friends at Boxing Social to discuss Fury-Ngannou, the future for both, what to expect in Fury-Oleksandr Usyk, Eddie Hearn’s comments on wanting to do Anthony Joshua-Ngannou; my preference for Joshua-Deontay Wilder; the upcoming David Benavidez-Demetrius Andrade fight, and the end of Showtime boxing. Watch the video here:

Pro Boxing Fans

I joined my friends at Pro Boxing Fans to discuss all things Fury-Ngannou and the latest on Joshua-Wilder and the fight plans apparently falling apart and why the fight should still be made. Check out the video here:

Boxing News

I also joined my friends at Boxing News to chat about Fury-Ngannou, what it means for the boxing vs. MMA conversation and the absurdity of Joshua-Wilder not being made. Check out the video here:

Make sure to listen to our latest podcast recapping Fury-Ngannou, Foster-Hernandez, Serrano-Ramos, news of the week and our nostalgia segment! Also subscribe to the pod for an alert as soon as the next episode drops.

A note to subscribers

I sincerely appreciate your readership. If you’re reading, it means you love boxing just like I do. If you’ve been reading you also know the quality and quantity of what I produce. It’s one-stop shopping. Read the newsletters and there is no need to search multiple websites or click a multitude of links to get the latest news, opinion and detailed fight schedule. Everything you need is in one spot and delivered directly to your inbox (or via phone alert if you download for free the superb Substack app). You don’t have to hunt for the news; it comes to you.

I believe that is worth something, so while I will continue providing stories, notes and the schedule for free, I encourage you to upgrade to a paid subscription for the most content. A paid subscription is your way of keeping this reader-supported newsletter going and supporting independent journalism. I am beholden to no network, promoter, manager, sanctioning body or fighter. If you have read my work at all during the past 23 years I’ve covered professional boxing you know that I keep it real and that will not change.

Fight Freaks Unite