The undisputed heavyweight championship fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk has been postponed after Fury suffered a “freak cut” in sparring, promoters announced Friday.

The fight was scheduled to take place on Feb. 17 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia but will now be postponed until later in the year after Fury sustained a cut below his right eyebrow which required “urgent medical attention and significant stitching,” according to a statement from Queensbery Promotions, which co-promotes Fury with Top Rank.

“I am absolutely devastated after preparing for this fight for so long and being in such superb condition,” said Fury (34-0-1, 24 knockouts), The Ring’s No. 1-rated heavyweight and WBC titleholder, in a statement.

A photo of the cut shared in a statement from Queensberry Promotions.

“I feel bad for everyone involved in this huge event and I will work diligently towards the rescheduled date once the eye has healed. I can only apologize to everyone affected, including my own team, Team Usyk, the undercard fighters, partners and fans as well as our hosts and my friends in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

The location of the cut is similar to where Fury was cut in his 2019 fight against Otto Wallin, a southpaw like Usyk, in a tougher-than-expected unanimous decision win.

Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs), The Ring champion who holds the IBF, WBO and WBA belts, is now reportedly looking into a bout with unbeaten Croatian Filip Hrgovic (17-0, 14 KOs), according to Boxing News. Hrgovic, The Ring’s No. 5-rated heavyweight, is the number one contender with the IBF and was last in the ring in December, stopping unheralded Australian Mark De Mori in one round in Saudi Arabia.

Reporter Gareth Davies reports that the Fury-Usyk fight is likely to be rescheduled for June or July.

The rest of the card will feature IBF cruiserweight titleholder Jai Opetaia defending against Mairis Briedis, IBF junior lightweight titleholder Joe Cordina defending against Anthony Cacace, plus Sergey Kovalev and Bakhodir Jalolov in separate bouts.

Ryan Songalia has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler and The Guardian, and is part of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism Class of 2020. He can be reached at [email protected].

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