RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Oleksandr Usyk’s team requested the Middle East Professional Boxing Commission at Friday’s rules meeting to mandate that Tyson Fury trim his burly beard ahead of Saturday’s unified heavyweight championship rematch, sources told ESPN.
Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) was clean-shaven in May when he was floored in Round 9 and lost a split decision to Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) for the undisputed heavyweight championship in Riyadh. Throughout fight week, the 36-year-old has sported an unruly beard.
The WBC, WBA and WBO titles are on the line. WBC championship fight rules state that “a boxer may spouse a trimmed beard … as long as, in the direction of the commission and the supervisor, the facial hair thickness does not: 1) cushion or in any way affect the impact or trajectory of punches; or 2) cut cuts or abrasions to his rival.”
Fury will not trim the beard, his manager, Spencer Brown of Goldstar, told ESPN.
“Tyson Fury has boxed with a beard on many occasions as do other fighters, most recently [Artur] Beterbiev,” Brown said, referring to the light heavyweight champion who defeated Dmitry Bivol in October. “Usyk himself has come out publicly and said Tyson having a beard is no problem. There is no law or ruling in boxing to say you can’t fight with a beard. It’s ridiculous that this has already been brought up in a rules meeting to no avail. Simply put if Usyk had a beard we would have no issue. This is not a fashion show, it’s boxing.
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman told ESPN on Saturday via text, “the rules state that the local commission and WBC supervisor to inspect. At the rules meeting I conferred to the commission. I did inspect Fury and there is no issue from our side.”
ESPN reviewed a copy of the rules signed by representatives for both Usyk and Fury. The commission told a representative for Usyk on Saturday morning, per source, that it would ask Fury to trim the beard.
Jose Mohan, president of the Middle East Professional Boxing Commission, declined comment, as did representatives for Fury and Usyk.
There is a long history of controversy surrounding beards in boxing. In 2005, James Toney’s team requested that the New York State Athletic commission have John Ruiz trim his beard ahead of their heavyweight title fight.
Ruiz trimmed the beard before the commission made him, and the bout proceeded. Toney won a decision, but the result was overturned to a no contest after he tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug.
In 2017, Gennadiy Golovkin’s trainer, Abel Sanchez, asked the Nevada State Athletic Commission to have Canelo Alvarez trim his beard. That commission has a quarter of an inch limit on facial hair length. It had no issues with Alvarez’s beard.
“It’s a little bit longer than it should be,” Sanchez said at the time. “It’s very rough on an opponent. I left it up to the commission. I voiced my displeasure.”
Usyk, a 37-year-old from Ukraine, is ESPN’s No. 1 pound-for-pound boxer. Fury is ESPN’s No. 2 heavyweight.
