Oleksandr Usyk is scheduled to rematch Tyson Fury on December 21 in Riyad after taking a split decision over him to become the undisputed heavyweight champion in May, and Fury has somewhat downplayed Usyk’s performance, publicly stating that he only thinks he lost the fight because he was having too much fun there, fooling around.

Wit Heavenly sports when talking to Usyk about Fury’s stance, he sort of dismisses the whole concept, insisting he will take the rematch as seriously as the first.

“For me, my fight will be tough because Tyson Fury is a gigantic man, a good boxer with a good boxing IQ.

“But if Tyson says it will be basic for him, ok, no problem. I see Tyson Fury, I see through Tyson Fury’s eyes, it’s not basic. It’s going to be difficult, very, very difficult.”

It doesn’t seem like most observers are giving much weight to Fury’s comments about having an basic time in the first meeting, but if that’s indeed the case, Usyk assures Fury he has nothing to fear in the upcoming fight, while also delivering an ominous message: “I won’t leave you alone.”

Usyk continued by comparing Fury to a yeti, pointing out that he is a enormous and powerful opponent that forced him to deal with some physical ailments as a result of fighting him long and difficult the first time, but claims that this was not actually the case He suffered a broken jaw, Fury said. In the meantime, Usyk will prepare for the rematch in December.

Mike Coppinger reports undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez is “in the process of finalizing a deal” to face Edgar Berlanga at the DAZN/Prime PPV on September 14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

He said the event would go head-to-head with UFC 306 at the Sphere, just three miles away.

Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KO) is coming off a one-sided win over Jaime Munguia, after which he defeated the juvenile contender in the fourth round and gradually outclassed him. The IBF has ordered a mandatory title defense against William Scull, who has apparently agreed to waive the contract that clears the way for it.

Moments after longtime interim champion David Morrell Jr moved up to lightweight heavyweight after years of the WBA refusing to order title consolidation, the sanctioning body named Berlanga (22-0, 17 KO) as Alvarez’s mandatory challenger. “The Chosen One,” who ended a five-fight knockout drought last February by stopping Padraig McCrory in six, has no appeal beyond the Mexico vs. Puerto Rico rivalry, which organizers will run into the ground, as we can expect. His powers have been shown to be fictitious, his foundation remains shaky, and he has shown a tendency to cheat his ass when things don’t go his way.

And not even in the charming way that, say, he tricked Sakio Bik.

I don’t see the need for poetry here. It’s just a bad fight, probably Canelo’s worst fight since Avni Yildirim in 2021. The UFC 306 lineup may be painfully average so far, but I wouldn’t expect substantial PPV numbers from Canelo this time around.

Turki Alalshikh continues to make his mark in boxing with his season in Riyad, officially signing partnerships with both Top Rank and Golden Boy.

Alakshikh made both announcements on social media today, indicating that these moves are aimed at continuing the promotion of world-class boxing events taking place around the world.

At the top level, Riyadh Season will sponsor 12 events by the end of the year and into 2025.

As for Golden Boy, the press release was a little less specific regarding the number of events they will be sponsoring, but did mention that this will kick off with the upcoming Serheii Bohachuk vs Vergil Ortiz fight on August 8. 10.

Interestingly, Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya recently said that the Saudis have not approached him about any potential buyout – and to be clear, this is not a buyout situation – but it shows their growing commitment to working with major players boxing.