{"id":342579,"date":"2023-10-29T23:30:44","date_gmt":"2023-10-30T00:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=342579"},"modified":"2023-10-30T01:00:53","modified_gmt":"2023-10-30T01:00:53","slug":"stunned-reaction-as-230m-megafight-goes-up-in-smoke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=342579","title":{"rendered":"Stunned reaction as $230m megafight goes up in smoke"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oleksandr Usyk<\/a> could only put his hands on his head in shock as he watched a potential $230 million megafight go up in smoke.<\/p>\n

The Ukrainian heavyweight champion was sat ringside to watch what everyone figured would be an easy win to Tyson Fury<\/a> over Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

What transpired was anything but, although Fury did get officially credited with the victory due to some controversial judges cards<\/a>, which gifted the Brit a split decision win.<\/p>\n

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But most – possibly even including Fury himself – believed the cards should have gone Ngannou's way, after the mixed martial arts great\ufeff stunned Fury with a third-round knockdown and generally looked the more impressive fighter.<\/p>\n

\"Oleksandr<\/p>\n

While Fury was handed victory by two judges who seemed to be watching a different fight, his underwhelming performance has put a serious speed bump in the road to his superfight with Usyk.<\/p>\n

While the two camps had agreed on December 23 for the bout, which will unify the heavyweight division for the first time in the four-belt era, \ufeffFury's promoter Frank Warren now says Fury won't be able to step into the ring until January at the earliest, and most likely February – if at all.<\/p>\n

"It is too soon to talk about what Tyson does right now but the Usyk fight is signed," Warren said after Sunday's fight.<\/p>\n

"It will go ahead but it will not be on the 23rd. It was crazy for some people to suggest that it could still go ahead on the 23rd.<\/p>\n

"He is 35 years old and has just done a 12-week training camp and has just been in a tough fight.<\/p>\n

\"Fury<\/p>\n

"He needs a break with his family, he needs to switch off and we will announce the date when we are ready. But the fight is signed. The fight will happen.<\/p>\n

"It will happen early in the new year, late January or February. It will be up to Tyson, it is his body.<\/p>\n

"He wasn't smashed to bits at all but he needs a break."<\/p>\n

Vision on social media showed Usyk reacting to Fury's knockdown on Sunday with utter shock, as he realised his unification bout was suddenly in danger.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/MichaelBensonn\/status\/1718452927814144068?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

But after hearing the Warren comments after the fight, Usyk hit back at the suggestion the fight could be moved to 2024.<\/p>\n

"Uncle Frank says some sneaky things," Usyk was quoted by Boxing King Media.<\/p>\n

"We have a contract that says the fight has to take place on Dec 23rd\u2026 Let Fury vacate his title first, then he can take his rest.<\/p>\n

"Tyson \u2013 we must fight, we must do it, Dec 23rd. See you in the ring. I love you".<\/p>\n

Funnily enough, a Fury comment before his fight with Ngannou could come back to bite the Brit in a big way.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Sky Sports Boxing and his scheduled fight with Usyk, Fury said, "Usyk has to fight me in December\ufeff, he doesn't have a choice.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffHe signed a contract, so if he doesn't (fight me) he has breached contract and he will get sued."<\/p>\n

\"Trainers<\/p>\n

Fury's promoter Bob Arum earlier this month claimed his fighter would pocket upwards of 100 million pounds – \ufeff$191m AUD – for fighting Usyk, while other reports say the fight purse is around $230m and would be split between the pair.<\/p>\n

But those figures rely heavily on financial backing from Saudi Arabia's money men, who are said to now be re-evaluating \ufeffFury's worth following a dismal showing.<\/p>\n

"No one's interested in seeing Fury take on Usyk," leading promoter Eddie Hearn said after Sunday's horror show.\ufeff<\/p>\n

Fury holds the WBC heavyweight belt, while Usyk is the recognised champion with the WBA, WBO and IBF, as well as The Ring magazine.<\/p>\n

The winner of their fight would become the first heavyweight to ever hold the five titles at once.\ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oleksandr Usyk could only put his hands on his head in shock as he watched a potential $230 million megafight go up in smoke. The […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":342581,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342579"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=342579"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":342585,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342579\/revisions\/342585"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/342581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=342579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=342579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=342579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}