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After fraught negotiations, training camp injuries and wild conspiracy theories, Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk is almost upon us.
The fight that has been over 18 months in the making will crown the heavyweight division’s first undisputed champion in 25 years, a status no man has held since Lennox Lewis unified the belts against Evander Holyfeld in 1999.
Boxing’s endlessly tedious politics have ensured there has been no sole king of the sport’s blue riband division since then, with one belt always out of reach even for its most dominant champions.
This weekend, Fury brings the esteemed WBC belt, the one he has held since dismantling Deontay Wilder in February 2020, to the table. Usyk arrives with the IBF, WBO and WBA straps, taken from Anthony Joshua two years ago.
It has been written in the stars for some time – but it has been a long and uncertain road.
The first stare down
After Usyk masterfully defeated Joshua for a second time in August 2022, Fury closed the year by defending his title against Dereck Chisora at a sold-out Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in December. It was a fight no one really wanted and one boxing didn’t really need, but it at least provided the platform for Fury and Usyk to stand toe-to-toe for the first time.
Gypsy King’, who rattled off a few of his old classics.
‘You 15 stone little midget I’m going to write you off. I already did one Ukrainian in [Wladimir] Klitschko and I’ll do you as well gappy teeth. You ugly little man, let’s get it on.’
An unflinching Usyk just smiled back.
Wembley fight crashes and burns
With no other hurdles in the way, a date for 29 April 2023 at Wembley Stadium looked to be all but sealed with a 70-30 split of the fight purse in Fury’s favour agreed.
But just over a month out from that planned date, the deal spectacularly collapsed. Terms of the rematch clause were thought to have been a key sticking point in faltering negotiations with Usyk shutting down his fight camp as a result. Fury faced much of the criticism that followed. ‘No matter how much Usyk compromised, he was pushed for more,’ Usyk’s manager, Egis Klimas said.
Efforts to revive the fight in the weeks that followed failed and for now, the two would head in separate directions.
Saudi steps in
With the Fury fight off the table, Usyk defended his world titles against WBA mandatory challenger Daniel Dubois in August 2024, fighting in front of a huge Ukrainian crowd in Poland as he knocked the Londoner out in round nine.
Over in Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, something that would change the game as far as heavyweight boxing has been concerned was bubbling away. The country has hosted major boxing events in the past, chiefly Usyk’s rematch with Joshua the previous year, but their plans for boxing were about to escalate
In July last year, it was announced Fury would take on former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in the first of a series of huge shows orchestrated by Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi’s General Entertainment Authority and the driving force behind Saudi’s expanding influence in the sport.
Fury vs Ngannou kicked of Riyadh Season – an entertainment festival held in the region’s capital ever year – and a month before fight night, it was announced Fury vs Usyk was back on with a full agreement in place between both camps. It was set to follow Fury’s meeting with Ngannou with a date of 23 December set.
Ngannou scare pushes fight back
Fury’s meeting with Ngannou didn’t go according to plan with ‘They Gypsy King’, an enormous favourite heading into the fight, left battered and bruised over a gruelling 10 rounds having been dropped in the third.
Fury did enough to secure the victory on the judges’ scorecards, but plans for him to immediately head into the Usyk fight at the end of the year were put on ice.
‘Tyson can’t be going into a camp after a tough fight like that. That’s eight weeks away,’ his promoter Frank Warren said.
‘He needs at least a bit of time to get himself, his body, back into shape.’
Fury was given extra time to rest up. The Saudi show on 23 December went on as planned with Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder both fighting on a stacked card.
Injury blow and conspiracy theories
A new date of 17 February was agreed. Everyone was happy. Disaster struck again, however, just two weeks out when Fury suffered a gruesome cut above his right eye after being caught with a stray elbow in sparring.
Fury faced wild and unsubstantiated accusations he was ducking Usyk with some boxing fans even questioning the legitimacy of the injury. Warren was having none of it. ‘Some of the stuff that’s been going out, I’ve never heard anything like it. It’s like some kind of cult against him.