Fury-Usyk in new year

TYSON FURY and oleksandr Usyk’s undisputed world heavyweight title fight will take place in the new year in Riyadh, Fury’s promoter Frank Warren confirmed. The fight was scheduled for December 23 before Fury’s crossover bout with UFC fighter Francis Ngannou in the Saudi capital last week. Warren rounded on social media trolls who called Fury’s unexpectedly close victory a robbery.

And of the internet cries of ‘fix’, he said: ‘What nonsense. Where was the fix when Tyson came within a second or two of being counted out when he was knocked down in the third round? Where was the fix when he had to knuckle down and fight hard to pull out the win? ‘All this idiocy has come mostly from the same people who were saying before the fight that it was a farce, a sham, a circus. ‘We knew Ngannou would be a tough opponent with massive punching power and the physical strength to take big shots himself. ‘We did expect that Tyson would work him out in the first two or three rounds and go on to win, but the knockdown changed the fight.’ Rematch clauses are in the Fury-Usyk contract, but there is also a demand for Fury to go again with Ngannou, who is now a hot property. Warren has insisted the Brit takes time out to recover from a bruising battle and reschedule Usyk. He said: ‘Had Tyson pulled out an early finish we could have gone for just before Christmas, but he can’t go straight back into training camp after this one.’ of suggestions Usyk would pull the plug in frustration, Warren added: ‘If he did that when there is so much money involved they would take him to the nut-house. oleksandr is no fool.’