Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury Heavyweight Championship Rematch Scheduled for Dec. 21

Oleksandr Usyk strengthened his claim as this season’s big man defeated Tyson Fury for all the marbles in the heavyweight division. (Photo by Mikey Williams-Top Rank)
Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury are set to back it up.
There is a slight delay in the timeline but the undisputed heavyweight championship rematch will take place on December 21. The second act will take place at the same venue as their May 18 instant match in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“The replay … is now scheduled for December 21, 2024 Riyadh Time,” Turki Alalshikh, chairman of the General Entertainment Authority, announced on Wednesday. “The world will once again watch another historic war. Our commitment to boxing fans continues.”
Ukraine’s Usyk (22-0, 14 knockouts) defeated England’s Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) by split decision to fully unify all major heavyweight titles. These boxers who were undefeated at the time entered into an agreement that required a rematch as soon as possible, regardless of how the first fight went.
Fortunately, it was a memorable twelve-round clash to follow.
Usyk was badly injured by Fury and it is said that he hit his best at the end of the ninth round. The streak was part of a frustrating second half to overcome an early deficit. It was enough to win two of the three cards to defend his RING championship for the second time. Usyk also retained his WBA, IBF and WBO titles and contested Fury’s WBC title.
This feat made him the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the 21st century. Fury, 35, The Ring’s No. 1 heavyweight, he used his repeat clause. Usyk, 38, followed suit and filed for a mandatory title defense with the IBF.
There were concerns that Usyk’s damage from the fight was too bad for him to go ahead with the scheduled rematch in mid-October. The two-month delay in those plans should provide enough time for the championship battle to reach the heart of the Riyadh Season.
There is a question of whether the stakes will remain the same.
Usyk was supposed to face next IBF contender Filip Hrgovic (17-0, 14 KOs), who is ranked No. 6 in the heavyweight division. Pre-fight rumors were that the Usyk-Fury winner was stripped of the IBF belt. That improvement would have allowed the vacant title to be at stake in Hrgovic’s bout with Daniel Dubois (20-2, 19 KOs) this Saturday in Riyadh.
The IBF has yet to issue a decision on the matter, and the decision may not come until after this weekend.
The IBF interim title may be up for grabs for Hrgovic-Dubois. That agreement will allow Usyk to enter the December 21 rematch as the undisputed champion.
Usyk, the pound-for-pound king of the Ring, previously held the Ring/undisputed cruiserweight champion. The Ukrainian southpaw joins Claressa Shields, Terence Crawford, Katie Taylor and Naoya Inoue on the short list of undefeated division champions in four belt seasons. Crawford, Taylor, Inoue and Usyk have all achieved it within the last ten months.
Fury’s win moved Syk to 6-0 as a heavyweight. His title reign began with a victory on Sept. 2021 Defeat Anthony Joshua (27-3, 24 KOs) in North London for the WBA/IBF/WBO combined title.
Fury was 5-0 in two championship bouts before his loss to Usyk.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for The Ring and vice president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.