The undisputed heavyweight fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk is unlikely to happen until next year, says promoter Frank Warren.
Fury beat Francis Ngannou on Saturday via a controversial split decision in a non-title fight in Saudi Arabia.
Briton Fury is the WBC champion and has agreed to fight Ukraine’s Usyk, who holds the three other world titles.
“We were going to do it on 23 December. I doubt that will happen now,” Warren told sports journalists
“Tyson can’t be going into a camp after a tough fight like that. That’s eight weeks away.
“He needs at least a bit of time to get himself, his body, back into shape. Let it heal. Then get into a camp. It will be on early next year.”
WBA, WBO and IBF champion Usyk was ringside in Riyadh and the two faced off in the ring after the fight.
Usyk later insisted the fight had to happen on 23 December.
Negotiations for a meeting between Fury and Usyk went on for the best part of a year until it was agreed in September.
A fight against Fury, which would crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion in the four-belt era, would form part of ‘Riyadh Season’ – an entertainment events festival held in Saudi Arabia’s capital every winter since 2019.
Fury-Ngannou also formed part of ‘Riyadh Season’, with the Saudi Arabian government reportedly paying big money to host the crossover bout.
French-Cameroonian Ngannou is a former UFC heavyweight champion who was making his boxing debut in Riyadh came close to pulling off one the greatest shocks in boxing history against the undefeated Fury – a man considered by many as the best heavyweight boxer in the world.
Ngannou dropped Fury in round three after connecting with a left hook. One judge scored it 95-94 in favour of the debutant, two gave it to Fury at 96-93 and 95-94.