The heavyweight unification fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk has been officially postponed. The card in Saudi Arabia on December 23rd will still go ahead and there are some big names on it.
Both Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder will be fighting, albeit not against each other. The latter faces Otto Walin while the former takes on Joseph Parker in non title 12 rounders.
Joshua (26-3) has fought in Saudi Arabia twice. The English heavyweight is currently without a title after suffering back to back losses to Usyk in 2021 and 2022.
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Opportunity of a lifetime
For Wallin (26-1-0-1) this is the opportunity of a lifetime. The Swedish heavyweight has never been in with an opponent of Joshua’s calibre and will be hoping to pull off an upset against the former champion who has lost three out of his last six fights.
Wilder (43-2-1) is also without a title since his loss to Tyson Fury. The hard hitting American has been matched with Joseph Parker (33-3), a New Zealander who has been in with some top tier heavyweight opposition.
There is another big heavyweight fight on the card and it features another recent Oleksandr Usyk victim. Daniel Dubois lost his heavyweight title to the Ukrainian in August.
Dubois (22-2) faces an opponent who is potentially one win away from securing a world title shot. He has been matched with undefeated American Jarrell Miller (22-0-1).
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Title fights
While there aren’t any titles on the line in the heavyweight fights there will be some silverware up for grabs in Riyadh on December 23rd. WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitrii Bivol (21-0) is defending his belt against Lyndon Arthur (23-1).
The event will take place at the Kindgom Arena in Riyadh. This outdoor venue is normally used for football and is home to Al-Hilal, the team that Brazilian star Neymar currently plays for.
The other title fight on the card is in the cruiserweight division. Australian Jai Opetaia (23-0) will be putting his IBF belt on the line against England’s Ellis Zorro (17-0).
