Tyson Fury has confirmed he will activate his rematch clause to fight Oleksandr Usyk for a second time after defeat in the undisputed heavyweight world title fight in Riyadh.
The Briton was outpointed by the Ukrainian by split decision and faced a controversial and crucial count in the ninth round, narrowly escaping a stoppage.
But both fighters possessed the option to fight again should they suffer defeat and Fury immediately confirmed his intent and revealed the month the fight will take place.
“I won that fight in my opinion,” Fury said. “I think he won a few of those rounds but I won the majority of them.
“His country is at war, so people are siding with the country at war.
“We go back to our families and we run it back in October. For sure, we’ll rest up, then get back on it in October, I thought I won the fight but I’m not going to cry and make excuses.”
While Usyk refused to commit to the rematch immediately, with the fight almost certainly not for the undisputed heavyweight title crown, with governing bodies poised to call for mandatory title defences from the rankings.
“Since 2008 I was planning for this. It was a big opportunity for me and my country, Slava Ukraine. It’s a great time and a great day. It’s not for my win,” Usyk said.
“It’s for my God, my supporters, my country, the Ukrainian soldiers, Ukrainian mother and father, children.
“I want to go to my home, I want to rest, a break, I want to eat, sleep, kiss my wife.”
The timeline for the rematch could be impacted by the fighters’ recovery time.
Usyk may have sustained a broken jaw after going to hospital, according to Fury himself, with a suspect broken jaw.
Fury said: “We’ve just had a fight, as you can see with my face, I’m pretty busted up and he’s gone to hospital with a broken jaw and he’s busted too
“We punched the f*** out of each other for 12 rounds. So we’re going to go home, eat some food, drink a few beers, spend some family time, walk my dog, go to the tip and me and Frank will talk about what’s going to happen in the future.”
