Turki Alalshikh assures fighters, winner of Fury-Usyk to face Joshua-Ngannou victor next for undisputed status in heavyweight division

It appears that the winners of upcoming heavyweight bouts Fury vs. Usyk, and Joshua vs. Ngannou will meet later this year.

This Friday night in Saudi Arabia, 'AJ' and 'The Predator' will clash. The high-profile boxing match will headline a DAZN pay-per-view event, in one of the biggest contests of the year. Both men hope to earn a potential title shot with a victory.

Just two months after Francis Ngannou and Anthony Joshua clash, there will be another massive bout. Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk is currently slated for May 18, also in the Middle East. The main architect behind the two events is Saudi advisor, Turki Alalshikh.

When Joshua-Ngannou was announced in January, Alalshikh revealed some plans. The advisor announced plans to book the winner of this Friday's bout, against the winner of Fury-Usyk later in 2024. While that announcement was big, some fans still had concerns.

That main concern is the rematch clause between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk. Seeing as how the two heavyweights will likely fight twice, it seemed unlikely that the winner of this weekend's bout would want to wait around.

However, that's not the case. At today's press conference between Joshua and Ngannou, 'The Gypsy King' made an appearance. There, he revealed that Alalshikh privately reiterated his statements about the winners of the two contests facing off.

Fury stated:

"Here's the thing. I was with Turki last night actually and I was talking about it and he said 'The winner of this fight is going to get the winner of you and Usyk'. After me and Usyk fight and have the rematch, the winner of this, will get a shot at that... So there's a lot on the line."

Check out his comments below:

---

Fans react to Fury-Usyk and Joshua-Ngannou news

Fans are cautiously optimistic about the winners of Fury-Usyk and Joshua-Ngannou facing off.

In boxing, the best-laid plans often go awry. Look no further than this weekend's event itself. Originally, 'AJ' was expected to face Deontay Wilder on March 8, but 'The Bronze Bomber' was pulled due to a loss to Joseph Parker in December.

As a result, 'The Predator' will return to the ring, to fight for a potential second crack at Tyson Fury. On X, fans reacted to news of the potential heavyweight tournament of sorts.

There, most fans were pleased with the news about Fury-Usyk. However, some still had doubts about the situation, with one writing:

"Rematch clause will ruin it again"

See the fan reactions below:

[All comments from @MichaelBensonn comment section on X]