The heavyweight undisputed bout that was set for February 17th between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk has been indefinitely postponed following an injury that Fury suffered in training. Reportedly, Fury received a cut over his right eye during a sparring session and the injury is deemed serious enough to warrant a cancellation of the event. The event is currently still scheduled to commence at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, though the Fury-Usyk match has been definitively removed from the card.
According to a statement released by Queensberry Promotions, Tyson Fury (34-0-1, 24 KO’s) required medical attention after a cut opened on Fury’s right eye, and the recovery period would make it impossible for Fury to compete against Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14 KO’s). According to a spokesperson from Queensberry Promotions, rescheduling the undisputed bout is a priority but is dependent on Fury’s recovery rate.
No details have yet emerged on Fury’s sparring opponent, but earlier in January there had been rumors of potential issues during training camp that suggested Fury had been knocked down by Jai Opetaia. While Opetaia’s promoters have vehemently denied the rumors and he has since then returned to Australia to prepare for his own fight, earlier this week boxing pundit and former professional Johnny Nelson suggested that Fury was being “turned over” in sparring.
Interestingly enough, while the Fury-Usyk match has been cancelled, the entire event may yet continue as the rest of the fighters, including Usyk, are still scheduled to fight―according to BoxRec―and IBF interim heavyweight champion Filip Hrgovic (17-0, 14 KO’s) has reportedly expressed his interest to replace Fury.
There are further concerns that even in the case of the match between Fury and Usyk being rescheduled, the bout might not involve all four world titles as the IBF title, currently held by Usyk, was supposed to be defended by Usyk nearly two years ago against IBF mandatory challenger Filip Hrgovic (17-0, 14 KO’s).
A match between Usyk and Hrgovic would be long overdue. While the IBF had previously allowed Usyk to face his WBA mandatory in Daniel Dubois (20-2, 19 KO’s)―who he would go on to stop last August, Usyk was originally supposed to face Hrgovic since retaining his titles in a rematch against Anthony Joshua in August of 2022. Being Hrgovic is both the IBF interim champion and the mandatory challenger, the Croatian heavyweight would be the most suitable opponent to face even with the event still being two weeks away.
While there are concerns surrounding Hrgovic stepping in in just two weeks’ time, Hrgovic is reportedly not daunted to serve as a late replacement to save the event:
“Now that Fury has gotten injured, I’m ready to step in and fight Usyk,” Hrgovic was claimed to have told ESPN. “Let’s go Usyk, you owe me my mandatory shot. It’s time to finally face me.”
It is unknown whether Hrgovic had prepared beforehand for a fight of his own, but his willingness indicates that he is at least fit enough to face Usyk. Aside from the Croatian, there are likely a number of possible candidates that can fill in for Fury, though no potential names have yet been revealed.
