Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua fight now in doubt after Oleksandr Usyk defeat

Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua’s fight has been put in doubt after Oleksandr Usyk’s undisputed win.

Usyk beat Fury by split decision this past weekend in Saudi Arabia to become the first undisputed heavyweight world champion in 25 years. Fury was getting the better of his rival in first half of the fight but Usyk turned it and almost KO’d Fury in the ninth round, but the Brit refused to go down.

Fury and Usyk will be contractually forced to fight for the second time in October as their undisputed clash had a two-way rematch clause. Assuming the rematch happens, Fury could take the score to one apiece if he gets his revenge which would inevitably set up a trilogy fight and push his fight against ‘AJ’ back from its planned February date.

Usyk’s undisputed status won’t last for long as he will soon be stripped of his IBF title, with mandatory challenger Filip Hrgovic waiting in the wings.

The belt will be put up for grabs when Hrgovic fights Daniel Dubois in June, with the winner of that fight expected to then face ‘AJ’ in September.

missed the birthday of my daughter, I missed the birth of my daughter. I missed all of my family holidays, all the time training. My focus was only this fight, now I’m happy. I want to go back home.” Fury, who has since returned to his home in Morecambe, blamed the ongoing war in Usyk’s home country as one of the reasons he lost the fight.

“I believe I won that fight,” Fury said. “I think he won a few of those rounds but I won the majority of them. His country is at war, so people are siding with the country at war. Make no mistake, I won that fight in my opinion. I’ve had a split decision loss with a little man. Good luck, God bless you.”