TYSON FURY's undisputed title fight with Oleksandr Usyk is facing yet another delay.
The pair's historic unification fight collapsed in the spring and hopes of an end-of-year showdown were scuppered when Fury accepted a crossover clash with ex-UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in October.
Unified heavyweight king Usyk has had to make do with a mandatory title defence against Daniel Dubois.
But Eddie Hearn claims the Ukranian will have to deal with IBF mandatory challenger Filip Hrgovic – who retained his position with a 12th-round stoppage of Demsey McKean on Saturday – immediately after the Brit.
The Matchroom Boxing chief, who co-promotes the Croatian, told Boxing Scene: “He needed to get that fight.
"He needed to be active, and also the IBF confirmed that, after the Usyk-Dubois fight, they will call the immediate mandatory now for Filip Hrgovic.
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"So he will fight the winner of that next.”
Boxing fans had hoped Fury's overdue clash with Usyk would take place in Saudi Arabia before the end of the year.
But promoter Frank Warren insisted the fight wouldn't happen this year prior to the announcement of the Ngannou bout.
He told talkSPORT: "He will not be fighting on the Skill Challenge show in December because they're talking about their show now being postponed until January.
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"I think their head of boxing Amer Abdallah said they'll probably be moving it to the first quarter of 2024, that's up to them.
"Prince Khaled is a fantastic person, I really like him, but in the meantime we have to move on, we are going to announce something."
Former pound-for-pound king Usyk hasn't held back with his criticism of Fury for facing boxing novice Ngannou.
He told Sky Sports: "The guy is going to earn some decent money.
"For Francis Ngannou, this is a great opportunity, but for Tyson Fury, it's definitely not."
He added: "Doesn't it seem strange that instead of choosing a top-10 guy, he is choosing someone who has never boxed before?"
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