Tyson Fury's fitness casts doubt on planned December showdown vs. Oleksandr Usyk
On the day of his official arrival in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Oct. 24, Tyson Fury told reporters that his training camp diet consisted of “marshmallows, Big Macs and McDonald’s.” And he said he trained five minutes for his bout with former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.
He was joking, it appeared, but after watching him go 10 rounds with Ngannou on Saturday at the lavish new Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, maybe he was serious.
He was a career-high tying 277 pounds and fleshy around the middle. When Ngannou didn't have him flat on his back like in the third round, Fury found himself sucking wind and running out of gas as he needed to do everything he could to avoid a hugely embarrassing loss.
Fury appeared like he wanted to use the 10-round non-title fight against Ngannou as the unofficial kickoff for his planned Dec. 23 bout for the undisputed heavyweight title against IBF-WBA-WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk.
At one point during the fight, cameras cut to Usyk, who put his hands on his head in seeming shock at what he was seeing.
Fury did enough — just barely enough — to win a split decision that ensures that the bout for the undisputed crown with Usyk will happen at some point. But whether it’s going to be Dec. 23, as the Saudis had hoped when they put the fight together, is another matter entirely.
Hall of Famer Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions, was non-committal. He said after Fury had a few days to heal that they’d sit down and chat.
Usyk said he wants it to be on Dec. 23 and Fury, though not flat agreeing to it, seemed receptive to the idea.
“Listen, I would like to do it again down the line, and I’m sure Francis would like to do it again, as well, but we’ve got this man to deal with next,” Fury said, nodding at Usyk. “That’s what’s next for us.”
It would probably make sense to hold the fight for at least a couple of weeks in order to allow Fury to totally heal. He had a small cut on the forehead that didn’t really bother him, but it’s a lot to ask a modern heavyweight to fight twice in a 56-day period, as Fury would do if he fought Usyk on Dec. 23.
The wisest choice would be to make the bout for the earliest possible date when Fury will be at his best.
The significance of the Fury-Usyk fight is so great that if it helps to erase any excuses, it should be delayed, because there’s no magic to the December date.
Boxing has had a great year with numerous unification bouts and bouts for the undisputed titles. Canelo Alvarez has the undisputed middleweight title. Jermell Charlo is the undisputed super welterweight champion, though Tim Tszyu fought for one of his belts earlier this month.
Terence Crawford has the undisputed welterweight championship and Devin Haney is the undisputed lightweight champion. Naoya Inoue and Marlon Tapales will meet for the undisputed super bantamweight title on Dec. 26 in Tokyo, and Fury and Usyk are scheduled to fight for the undisputed heavyweight title on Dec. 23 in Riyadh.
That could mean six undisputed champions in boxing by the end of 2023, which would be a remarkable achievement.
But it’s not worth rushing the Fury-Usyk bout if Fury isn’t fully healed. Ngannou hits hard, as Fury found out Saturday, and so he might be sore for a while.
It’s no wonder that Usyk wants to fight as quickly as possible after seeing what he saw from Fury on Saturday. Fury is 35 and has lived a hard life, and put a ton of stress on his body. He wasn’t showing signs of decline before the bout, but maybe his performance against Ngannou was his body’s way of showing that he’s not the same athlete he once was.
It still looks like December is the best bet, and if both men are ready to be at their best, then that’s when to do it.
But it shouldn’t be pushed to meet an artificial deadline, because the significance of the fight is so great that all would benefit from a memorable battle.
