Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury are now within a couple of days of renewing their rivalry for three of the four world heavyweight titles.
Back in May, all four belts were on the line as the sport crowned its first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in 2000.
After Usyk came out on top in a thrilling bout in Saudi Arabia, a rematch in the Middle East was inevitable as Fury bids to respond to suffering his first defeat in the professional ranks
Here, Sports Mole rounds up everything that you need to know ahead of the mammoth showdown that is due to take place on December 21.
The first fight
Ahead of the first instalment, the general consensus was that Fury may simply be too big for Usyk. At 15cm taller and 39lbs heavier, it was difficult to dispute that opinion.
The first six rounds suggested that the majority would be proven correct. Fury's showboating contributed to Usyk taking the first round, yet the Briton grew into the fight and established firm control.
For the first time in his career, it seemed as though Usyk was getting beaten up. Fury landed blows that would have discouraged the standard human being, his Ukrainian foe seemingly on course to being battered into submission.
© Imago
However, rather than stick with a strategy that was proving ineffective, Usyk went on the attack and seized the fight from Fury's grasp, landing more frequently in rounds seven and eight before a ninth round that will live long in the memory.
With 30 seconds remaining, Usyk landed a thudding left that sent Fury onto the ropes, following up with a barrage of punches that forced the WBC belt holder to take a count.
Fury deserves credit for finishing the fight, partially helped by Usyk not continuing at the pace that he had set in the previous three rounds. Fury was also awarded the 12th round by all three judges, yet the vast majority of observers felt Usyk had prevailed before the scorecards were revealed.
Although Fury received a 114-113 verdict with one judge, the other two gave it 115-112 and 114-113 to Usyk, leaving him as the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO champion.
Why all four belts will not be on the line
Soon after making history, Usyk had a decision to make. His IBF mandatory was due and the governing body were not prepared to accept any exceptions.
At the start of June, Daniel Dubois defeated Filip Hrgovic to take the mandatory status away from the Croatian, theoretically setting up a rematch with Usyk later in the year.
Instead, Usyk vacated on June 25, allowing Dubois to face Anthony Joshua for the IBF title at Wembley in September. Usyk remains with the WBA, WBC and WBO titles, and mandatories will be due for whoever emerges victorious in Riyadh.
A report recently emerged that Wladimir Klitschko had been in talks to make a comeback after nearly eight years away from the sport to face Dubois for his world title. However, that idea has now been scrapped.
Since then, Turki Alalshikh has announced a stellar card for February 22 which will be headlined by Dubois squaring off against Joseph Parker. Whoever prevails from that encounter will have eyes on an unification with the winner of Usyk and Fury, while Joshua remains in the conversation as a voluntary challenger given the money that would be involved.
© Imago
Where to watch
On November 20, it was announced that DAZN had priced the pay-per-view event at £24.99 for fans from the United Kingdom.
Sky Sports have revealed that they will be broadcasting the fight on their Box Office channel for £24.95. TNT Sports have recently announced that the fight can be watched on their own Box Office channel for £24.99.
Details on how to buy the PPV on DAZN can be found here. Existing Sky subscribers will be able to purchase the PPV throughout their Sky boxes, with new customers able to find further information here.
TNT Sports Box Office is available on Sky on Channel 490. If customers wish to watch the PPV via the app, they will need to sign up to Discovery+. More information can be found here.
The main card will start at 6.30pm (GMT). The showdown between Usyk and Fury is expected to take place at approximately 11pm (GMT).
Undercard
There was a major change to the undercard earlier in the month with Ishmael Davis having been brought in to face Serhii Bohachuk, who had been scheduled to fight Israil Madrimov.
However, Madrimov has come down with acute bronchitis and needed to be withdrawn from the card. Instead, he will now turn his attention to facing Vergil Ortiz Jr for the WBC interim super-welterweight title on February 22, a fight that had been agreed prior to needing to be pulled from the card.
British fighter Davis is a late introduction to a Riyadh card for the second time in three months having previously stepped in to fight Josh Kelly on September 24. Davis pushed the former Olympian all the way in that encounter at Wembley Stadium, suitably impressing Turki Alalshikh enough where he was quickly identified as the primary candidate to replace Madrimov.
Furthermore, the European super-bantamweight title had also been due to be on the line in an all-British clash between champion Dennis McCann and challenge Peter McGrail.
Instead, it was revealed late last week that McCann had tested positive for a banned substance in an VADA test, subsequently ruling him out of the contest. Promoter Frank Warren has since revealed that there were "a couple" of banned substances identified in the VADA test.
Unbeaten Welshman Rhys Edwards has been drafted into replace McCann having earned notable victories over Brad Foster and Thomas Patrick Ward over the past 13 months.
There are a further two heavyweight clashes on the card, with Johnny Fisher hoping to earn valuable rounds against Dave Allen and highly-rated prospect Moses Itauma taking on Australia's Demsey McKean.
At featherweight, there is a clash between Isaac Lowe and Liam McGregor, both fighters needing a notable win to move them back up the world rankings.
A light-heavyweight showdown between Daniel Lapin and Dylan Colin has also been scheduled. Over the past two weeks, another double-header of fights have also been added.
The WBC international heavyweight title will be on the line when Andrii Novytskyi and Edgar Ramirez square off. This is a fight between two American-based heavyweights, despite representing Ukraine and Mexico respectively.
Saudi Arabia's Mohammed Alakel will also be looking to move to two wins at the start of his professional career when he faces journeyman Joshua Ocampo. That fight will kick off the card on Saturday.
Darren Plant
