The agreement between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk to crown an undisputed heavyweight champion this winter contains a two-way rematch clause that the loser can activate immediately.
Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk are likely to fight not once, but twice, for heavyweight supremacy.
The agreement for the fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship, which will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, contains a two-way rematch clause that the loser of the match can activate immediately, sources told ESPN.
The tentative date for Fury-Usyk is December 23, said the sources, although the fight could take place in January depending on what happens when Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs) fights former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou on October 28 in Riyadh.
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"It is the biggest fight in boxing," said Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority.
Fury, one of boxing's premier stars, steps into the ring with his WBC belt while Usyk will put his WBA, WBO, and IBF titles on the line. But as is often the case in boxing, it will be difficult for either man to hold onto all four titles for long due to obligations with four different sanctioning bodies.
A rotation system for unified champions and the IBF is next after Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) fulfilled his WBA mandatory defense with a ninth-round KO of Daniel Dubois in August in Wroclaw, Poland.
The IBF sent a letter to the parties involved last week that stipulated the winner of Fury-Usyk must make a mandatory defense without any interim fights, and that the organization will not grant exceptions.
That means if an immediate rematch takes place, the IBF title will not be on the line. In that case, Croatia's Filip Hrgovic will fight the next available contender for the vacant IBF title.
"The IBF stated that, if I won my last fight and if Usyk beat Dubois, the IBF would enforce my mandatory status to fight Usyk for the title," Hrgovic told ESPN. "The IBF has now allowed Tyson Fury and Usyk to unify first. The winner of that fight has the mandate to fight me immediately afterwards without any interim fight, so I expect to fight for the heavyweight championship early next year.
"I'm disappointed by the delay, but I'll be ready and won't let it distract me from my goal of winning the title. Whether it's against Usyk or Fury, my moment is coming."
Hrgovic (16-0, 13 KOs) is ESPN's seventh-ranked heavyweight. The 31-year-old, Olympic bronze medalist is coming off a 12th-round TKO win over Demsey McKean in August. Hrgovic's career-best victory came last August when he earned a decision win over Zhilei Zhang (ESPN's fifth-ranked heavyweight) in Saudi Arabia.
"Filip is about to become a free agent, so the rest of Team Hrgovic and I will sit down with our lifelong partners, Wasserman Boxing and Eddie Hearn, before speaking to anyone else about Filip's future to see what their prospective plan would be," said Hrgovic's manager Keith Connolly. "Filip is excited about his future and fighting for the heavyweight title in 2024."
Anthony Joshua, whom Usyk defeated twice for three heavyweight titles, is the next available contender in the IBF rankings after Hrgovic.
The Englishman Fury, 34, is the No. 6 pound-for-pound boxer and ESPN's No. 1 heavyweight. Ukraine's Usyk, 36, is ESPN's third-ranked pound-for-pound boxer and No. 2 heavyweight.