On Ariel Helwani's MMA Hour Live, Saudi boxing executive Turki Alalshikh (pictured) announced "we are not playing" and set a rescheduled date of May 18th for the Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury world heavyweight championship fight. The site for the hostoric match-up will remain Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A cut over Fury's eye necessitated the postponement, but Alalshikh's announcement ended a 24-hour period full of speculation that the bout could fall apart completely. Sitting next to Fury, and with Usyk appearing via videoconference, Alalshikh said that if either boxer pulled out of the May 18th date, they would have to forfeit $10 million to the other. As for Filip Hrgovic, the IBF mandatory contender who was poised to step in for Fury as Usyk's replacement challenger, he was made an intriguing offer by Alalshikh. Hrgovic can join the March 8th card (main event: Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou) if Hrgovic is willing to fight one of the following contenders: Daniel Dubois, Martin Bakole, Frank Sanchez, Jarrell Miller, Agit Kabayel or Jared Anderson. Finally, Alalshikh announced a world light heavyweight unification bout between three-belt champion Artur Beterbiev and WBA champion Dmitriy Bivol will take place on June 1st.

PRIOR BOXINGTALK COVERAGE FROM LAST TWO DAYS

While there had been some speculation that heavyweight Filip Hrgovic could replace the injured Tyson Fury as a challenger to Oleksandr Usyk, a statement from the venue, Riyadh Season, said the Feb. 17th fight date would be postponed until Fury recovers. Usyk's manager, Egas Klimas, lost his mind at news of the postponement, telling The Ring's Joe Santoloquito that [despite footage appearing to show a sparring injury] Fury inflicted the cut on himself. The Ring quoted Klimas as follows: "Tyson Fury is a f*cking coward who will do anything not to face Usyk and he asked his bitch to hit him with a frying pan in his brow. You can quote me word for word on that."

Riyadh Season's statement indicated Usyk would have to wait for Fury's recovery: "Riyadh Season announced today that the much anticipated boxing match between WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and unified [WBO/IBF/WBA] champion Oleksander Usyk has been postponed. The decision comes after Fury suffered and unfortunate cut above his right eye during a training session in Riadh. Originally scheduled for February February 17th as part of the Riyadh Season activities, the fight will be rescheduled at a later date and tickets will be refunded to the public.

Initial announcement from Queensberry Promotions: "WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has been forced to postpone his fight with unified champion Oleksandr Usyk after sustaining a freak cut during a sparring session in Riyadh [Saudi Arabia]. The cut which opened above Fury's right eye, required urgent, medical attention and significant stitching, and will obviously require a period of recovery, scuppering, any possibility of the fight with Usyk taking place [as scheduled] on 17th February in Saudi Arabia. A spokesperson said: “whilst this is still breaking news, it is clearly a massive disappointment after the work that has been done by so many people to finally deliver this historic event to the world. Once the doctors have appraised Tyson‘s eye, we will have a better idea of the period of recovery needed. Once known, we will work diligently with all the stakeholders and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to reschedule this fight as soon as possible, and will, of course keep everyone updated with developments.”

A disappointed Fury added, “I am absolutely devastated after preparing for this fight for so long and being in such superb condition. 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, the undercard fighters, partners and fans, as well as our host and my friends in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia."