June 26, (THEWILL) –Â The shelving of the heavyweight unification all-British boxing bout between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury to allow for a third showdown between Deontay Wilder and Fury had culminated in a Joshua versus Oleksandr Usyk fight which is now confirmed for September 25.
This confirmation came from Eddie Hearn, the English Boxing Promoter and Group Managing Director of Matchroom Sport, who is also Joshua’s promoter and has been a reliable source of boxing information about the British heavyweight champion.
Hearn broke the news via an Instagram live broadcast, where he said: “Joshua vs Usyk announcement, don’t want to say two weeks as you guys are bored of me saying that.
“September 25 is the date.”
The prospect of an all-British heavyweight contest is now set aside, for the time being, so that Joshua can focus on the expected meeting with Ukrainian boxer Usyk and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is the likely venue for the bout in September when a packed arena of in-person crowds is expected.
THEWILL recalls that Joshua’s possession of the World Boxing Organisation (WBO), World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) titles were up this summer against challenger Fury, who is the World Boxing Council (WBC) champion.
However, a legal ruling by an arbitrator in the United States, who was approached Wilder, the man Fury beat for the WBC belt, derailed a proposed fight in Saudi Arabia on August 14 with a ruling mandating Fury to honour the agreement signed for a third face off against Wilder.
With no legal loophole to exploit as he was contractually bound to enter a third fight, Fury accepted and after the details and personal arrangements sorted, the fight was fixed for Saturday, July 24 in Las Vegas.
Meanwhile, Joshua will clash with Usyk two months later in September. THEWILL recalls that Usyk was the mandatory challenger for the WBO belt that Joshua holds but agreed to step aside to make the Joshua-Fury unification bout happen. With the shelving of that fight, he now returns with the opportunity to steal a belt from Joshua.
Usyk will pose a stiff challenge for Joshua as he remains the best cruiserweight since Evander Holyfield before he moved up to heavyweight two years ago even though he remains quite undersized. Joshua’s readiness for the Fury fight may give him an edge but he will do well to avoid complacency with the defeat to Andy Ruiz still fresh in mind.
If both British boxers come out of the other sides of their July and September bouts unscathed, then that will even raise the popularity of their unification battle by a fair margin, which will result in a massive payday that could dwarf the already huge benefits the earlier agreements expected
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
