It’s finally time to find out who the king of the heavyweight division is. On Saturday, May 18, WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury will go head-to-head with WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. The monumental showdown, dubbed “Ring of Fire,” will crown the first heavyweight undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999.
Fury vs Usyk has been a long time in the making, with the fight initially agreed to take place on December 23. Fury requested more recovery time after a punishing Francis Ngannou fight in October, and it was then slotted for February 17, 2024. However, it was postponed once again due to a facial injury sustained by Fury in training. It will now take place this Saturday at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Tale of the Tape
| Tyson Fury | Oleksandr Usyk | |
| Nickname | The Gypsy King | The Cat |
| Hometown | Manchester, England | Simferopol, Crimea, Ukraine |
| Record | 34–0–1 (24 KOs) | 21–0 (14 KOs) |
| Age | 35 | 37 |
| Height | 6 ft 9 in (206 cm) | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) |
| Reach | 85 in (216 cm) | 197 cm (78 in) |
| Style | Orthodox | Southpaw |
When is Fury vs Usyk?
Below are the fight details.
- Date: Saturday, May 18
- Main Card: 8 pm Local Time / 6 pm BST / 10 am PT / 12 pm CT / 1 pm ET)
- Main-event ring walks (Approx): 1 am Local Time / 11 pm BST / 3 pm PT / 5 pm CT / 6 pm ET
- Venue: Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Undercard Preview
In the co-main event, Joel Cordina will defend his super-featherweight world title against Ireland’s Anthony Cacace. The Welsh will be making his second defense of the IBF belt after winning it against Shavkat Rakhimov last year.
Earlier in the night, the vacant IBF cruiserweight title will be on the line as Jai Opetaia faces Mairis Briedis in a hugely anticipated bout. Young heavyweight star Moses Itauma will also be in action, as will top-ranked heavyweight Frank Sanchez.
Fury vs Usyk: Full Card
Below is the full card.
- Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk – for WBA, WBO, IBO and IBF heavyweight titles
- Joe Cordina vs Anthony Cacace – for IBF and IBO super-featherweight titles
- Jai Opetaia vs Mairis Briedis – for vacant IBF cruiserweight title
- Agit Kabayel vs Frank Sanchez – heavyweight
- Sergey Kovalev vs Robin Sirwan Safar – cruiserweight
- Mark Chamberlain vs Joshua Oluwaseun Wahab – lightweight
- Moses Itauma vs Ilja Mezencev – heavyweight
- David Nyika vs Michael Seitz – cruiserweight
- Isaac Lowe vs Hasibullah Ahmadi – featherweight
How to Watch Fury vs Usyk
DAZN PPV is the worldwide broadcaster for Fury vs Usyk. The streaming service is charging the equivalent of US$21.99 in most countries, while it will go for £24.95 in the UK. But at the moment, DAZN is offering a free month when you purchase the fight, so you won’t need to pay the regular $9.99. In the UK, Sky Sports PPV and TNT Sports PPV also have the fight at a cost of £24.95.
However, boxing fans in the US will have to shell out $69.99 to get the PPV on either DAZN or ESPN.
Predictions
Tyson Fury was recently stunned by Francis Ngannou after being knocked down in the fifth round. However, since that time, he has transformed physically as he prepared for the upcoming fight. He holds a physical advantage over Usyk as he is much taller and bigger.
Usyk, on the other side, is technically gifted and wears his opponents down with his movement and relentless work-rate. He likes to control the fight like he did against Joshua and Dubois, but he may find that harder to do against front-footed Fury. According to most experts and bookmakers, Fury holds the edge here due to his size advantage and will likely win if it goes to the judges.
