Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury heavyweight title rematch scheduled for Dec. 21

Oleksandr Usyk will defend his heavyweight boxing championship in a rematch against Tyson Fury on Dec. 21 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, Turki Alalshikh, made the announcement on Wednesday, and the planned rematch was pushed back from its original Oct. 12 date.  

"The world will watch another historical fight again. ... Our commitment to boxing fans continues. ...We hope you enjoy it," Alalshikh said on X.

Usyk took Fury's WBC belt earlier this month, knocking him down in the ninth round. With the split-decision win, Usyk became the undisputed heavyweight champion and the first to hold that title in over 25 years since Lennox Lewis in 1999.

The two judges ruled 114-113 and 115-112 for Usyk, with Fury scoring 114-113 on the other judge's scorecard.

 Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) said after the bout he believed he had won.

“You know his country’s at war, so people are siding for the country at war,’’ Fury said about Usyk, who is from Ukraine. “Make no mistake, I won that fight, and I’ll be back.’’

The 37-year-old Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) now holds the WBA, IBF, WBO and WBC titles and is also the lineal heavyweight champion. Whether Usyk has all of those belts when December rolls around is up for debate, as the International Boxing Federation had said the winner could be stripped of the title if they didn't face mandatory challenger Filip Hrgovic.

 Hrgovic (17-0, 14 KOs) takes on Daniel Dubois (20-2, 19 KOs) on Saturday from Riyadh.