Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will meet again in the ring on Saturday for the heavyweights’ hotly anticipated rematch.
The second bout will see British boxer Fury aim to reclaim the WBC, WBO and WBA heavyweight titles, which he lost after the pair’s first fight back in May.
Unlike last time, the rematch will not be for the undisputed heavyweight title, with Usyk having been forced to vacate the IBF championship after his victory.
The IBF title is now held by Daniel Dubois, who retained the prize after beating Anthony Joshua at Wembley Stadium in September.
The build-up to the second fight began with the grand arrivals at Boulevard Runway in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
Image: Fury and Usyk in the ring back in May. Pic: AP
Echoing threats from May that he is going to knock his opponent out, Fury said: “It’s the biggest event of my life.
“He won by one point in a close fight. Good luck to the guy. And we’re going to run it back on Saturday and it’s gonna be victory for me.”
Unfazed by attempts to unsettle him, Usyk put Fury’s threats down to “talk”.
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How Tyson Fury is preparing for Usyk rematch
“We’ll see. It’s God’s will. I’m ready, I’m ready to fight. It will be a great fight. I feel I will win,” he said.
When is the fight?
The match is going to be held at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, on Saturday 21 December.
Ring walks for the main event are expected at 10pm UK time.
Coverage of the build-up begins at 4pm UK time on Sky Sports Box Office.
Image: Uysk at the Grand Arrivals in Riyadh. Pic: Reuters/Andrew Couldridge
It will be the first time a judge, powered by artificial intelligence (AI), will be used to monitor the fight, according to Saudi adviser Turki Alalshikh.
Writing on X, Mr Alalshikh said the bot will be free from “bias and human error” and make up part of a “groundbreaking experiment”.
He clarified that the AI judge will not the impact official results.
Who’s on the undercard?
Serhii Bohachuk vs Ishmael Davis – super-welterweight
Moses Itauma vs Demsey McKean – heavyweight
Johnny Fisher vs David Allen – heavyweight
Peter McGrail vs Rhys Edwards – super-bantamweight
Isaac Lowe vs Lee McGregor – featherweight
Image: Pic: Reuters/Andrew Couldridge
Daniel Lapin vs Dylan Colin – light-heavyweight
Andrii Novytskyi vs Edgar Ramirez – heavyweight
Mohammed Alakel vs Joshua Ocampo – super-featherweight
What happened in the first fight?
Ukraine’s Usyk defeated the “Gypsy King” on a split decision, becoming the first boxer to hold all four major heavyweight belts at the same time, and the first undisputed champion in 24 years.
Image: Pic: AP
Two scorecards read 115-112 and 114-113 in favour of the Usyk and the other 114-113 to Fury.
In the middle rounds, Fury took control, and he even appeared close to forcing a stoppage in the sixth before Usyk slowly gained the upper hand until letting rip in a dominant ninth.
Image: Usyk won the last fight by split decision. Pic: AP
It was in that same round the referee deemed Fury had only been held up by the ropes and handed him a count.
What are their professional boxing stats?
Tyson Fury:
• Age: 36• Height: 6ft 9in• Total fights: 36• Record: 34-1-1 (24 KOs)• Rounds contested: 242
Oleksandr Usyk:
• Age: 37• Height: 6ft 3in• Total fights: 22• Record: 22-0 (14 KOs)• Rounds contested: 189
Where can I watch the coverage?
The event will be shown live on Sky Sports Box Office (Sky channel 491) and Sky Sports Box Office HD (Sky channel 492).
The event is priced at £24.95 for Sky customers in the UK and €27.95 for Sky customers in the Republic of Ireland up until midnight on 20 December.
Two repeat showings of the full fight will be shown at 8am and 6pm on Sunday 22 December.
Sky+ customers can book via the Box Office button on your remote.
Sky Q and Sky+ customers can also book online.
Bookings can also be made over the phone by calling 03442 410888 (0818 220 225 from ROI).
There will be a £5/€5 surcharge for bookings made over the phone from midnight Friday 20 December to midnight Saturday 21 December.
Source : Sky News
