Tyson Fury, Oleksandr Usyk agree to fight for undisputed heavyweight title

Whenever the fight takes place, it will be the first time the heavyweight may have a single undisputed champion in the four-belt era. The last man to hold all the publicly recognized belts was Lennox Lewis in 1999 when he defeated Evander Holyfield for the WBA, WBC and IBF championships.

The timing of the announcement is interesting for several reasons. For starters, while the two titlists have been circling each other for months, you would think that a bout of this magnitude would be announced after an upcoming fight, such as the one Fury has with the former UFC heavyweight champion, instead of weeks before. In the event that Ngannou pulls off the upset or at least leaves some damage on Fury, it's fair to wonder if that would take off some of the shine from a unification bout with Usyk.

There's also the matter of when the fight actually takes place. Even though Fury's fight with Ngannou isn't being taken too seriously by the wider public, it's still a fight where both men will need time to recuperate for some time afterwards. A December fight is very optimistic, though it could dovetail well with the holiday season, especially for Fury's fans in the United Kingdom who will appreciate another sporting event before the Premier League's annual takeover of Boxing Day on the 26th. Even January could present a tough timeline, but the Saudis and the promoters for both fighters seem confident that there would be enough time for full training camps.

Fury holds the WBC heavyweight title while Usyk has the WBA, WBO and IBF belts. Fury last fought in December 2022, beating British rival Derek Chisora for the third time. Usyk defeated Anthony Joshua in September 2021 to take the belts and nabbed the Ring Magazine title (generally given to the division's best fighter) in a rematch in August 2022.