Jeddah, Saudi Arabia- Tyson Fury‘s United States promoter, Bob Arum, has said that the winner of the rematch between Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk for the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight belts could face Fury in 2023.
The Usyk-Joshua bout is scheduled to take place at the Jeddah Super Dome on August 20th, 2022.
This is after 32-year-old Joshua, lost his belts to Usyk at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in England last year.
“What a roller coaster journey, fighting for the Heavyweight Championship of the World for the 12th consecutive time! Won the belt, unified the division won another belt, lost the belts, became a two-time Unified Heavyweight Champion and now have my date with history set to become a three-time Unified Heavyweight Champion of the World. What an opportunity!
A happy fighter is a dangerous fighter and I am the happiest and most motivated I have been. Fighting championship level back to back has had its pros and cons, but I decide every day to get stronger, to learn from my experiences and grow,” said Joshua.
Meanwhile, Usyk who has been in his home country of Ukraine helping in the war against Russia said a repeat win over the Briton was guaranteed.
“I have a goal, with the help of the Lord I will complete my mission,” said the 35-year-old Ukrainian, who has since started preparations for this bout.
Usyk (19-0, 13KOs) became a two-division champion following his upset win over Joshua, coming more than three years after fully unifying the cruiserweight division in 2018. The unbeaten 2012 Olympic Gold medalist and reigning heavyweight titlist have dethroned four separate titleholders all in their home country in a remarkable pound-for-pound run.
Joshua (24-2, 22KOs) won his first title in 2016, unifying all belts but the WBC strap along the way before suffering a seventh-round knockout to Andy Ruiz in June 2019 however, he regained his slew of titles in a decision win over Ruiz in their December 2019 rematch in Diriyah.
