Tyson Fury will look to avenge his first-ever professional defeat when he rematches Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia this Christmas.
The Gypsy King missed the chance to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999 when he lost in his historic meeting with the Ukrainian.
Usyk ended Fury’s unbeaten streak and became the undisputed king of heavyweight boxingGetty
Usyk dropped Fury in the ninth round en route to victory in the pair’s bid to unite all four belts for the first time in 25 years.
‘The Cat’ claimed a split-decision win with scorecards of 115-112 and 114-113 in his favour while the third judge gave it to Fury 114-113.
A second fight between the two had been targeted for autumn 2024 but has since been pushed back to allow Fury and Usyk to recover from their respective facial injuries.
The rematch will not be for the undisputed titles, with Usyk being forced to vacate his IBF belt.
The winner of the clash could then be set to face Daniel Dubois next year after he retained the IBF title in style in September by knocking out Anthony Joshua.
Fury vs Usyk 2: Date and start time
This 12-round heavyweight title clash is set to take place on Saturday, December 21.
The rematch will again be held at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Start times and additional details are expected to be announced in due course.
If it follows the timings of the first fight, the undercard will get underway at 7pm UK time, with main event ringwalks around 11:30pm.
The event is expected to be broadcast live on TNT Sports Box Office – the new name for BT Sport – but pricing is yet to be revealed.
talkSPORT will have updates throughout fight week and talkSPORT.com will be running a live blog of all the action as well.
Usyk almost closed the show in round 9Getty
Fury vs Usyk 2: Undercard
More to follow…
MAIN EVENT: Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury
Fury vs Usyk 2: What has been said?
Usyk’s manager Alex Krassyuk has suggested his client could meet Fury in a trilogy if he is beaten in December.
He told talkSPORT on White & Jordan: “Why not? Boxing has had this in the past.
“If the people want to see this for a third time or a fourth time, it may well happen.
“Boxing is all about the desire of the fans, and Turki Alalshikh is the man that is currently making their dreams come true.”
Meanwhile, Fury insists he beat Usyk in May and says the Ukrainian was like a ‘local amateur boxer’.
“I’ve watched the fight back lots and still got the same answer – I thought I won,” Fury said.
“Usyk knows he didn’t beat me. It was actually a lot easier than I thought it’d be.
“My problem was I probably had too much fun. It was too easy. It was like I was in there with a local amateur boxer.
“I was enjoying it too much, messing around and paid the ultimate price in round nine.
“I’ve got to get him out of there because I’m not gonna get a decision.
“It’s unfortunate because it’s hard enough to win a fight just by winning it, never mind knowing you’ve got to knock someone out.
“I’m confident and looking forward to the challenge. I hear he’s got a broken jaw and a broken eye socket, so get yourself well and I’ll see you in December.”
