THE winner of Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk will only be able to call themselves undisputed champion for a matter of weeks.
The pair face off in the first undisputed heavyweight bout since 1999 tonight in what has been dubbed “the fight of the century”.
Fury is defending his WBC title, while Usyk is putting his WBA, IBF and WBO belts on the line in Riyadh.
And despite all the attention and build up to the first undisputed heavyweight bout in over 25 years, the winner’s status will only last a fraction of that time.
Boxing journalist Dan Rafael has reported that the winner of tonight’s bout will maintain the undisputed title for “less than two weeks”.
It’s said that both Fury and Usyk’s contracts dictate that they must vacate the the IBF title ahead of overdue mandatory challenger Filip Hrgovic’s bout with Daniel Dubois.
Hrgovic and Dubois face off on June 1, just 14 days after tonight’s fight.
Hrgovic has been the mandatory challenger for some 18 months and will be competing for his first world title since turning pro.
The 31-year-old is unbeaten in his 17 fights since switching to professional boxing after his Olympic bronze in 2016 as an amateur.
Fury and Usyk could maintain the belt on a temporary basis, however.
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If the “Ring of Fire” fight lives up to expectations as an eye-catching thriller, all four belts could be held together for the rematch.
Should that be the case then Hrgovic’s fight with Dubois would most likely be for an INTERIM world title.
Saudi Arabia chief Turki Alalshikh has revealed that the winner of Hrgovic vs Dubois will go on to face Anthony Joshua in September of this year.
AJ has returned to form and will ultimately be eyeing an all-British bout between himself and Tyson Fury in the future too.
