Promoter Frank Warren doesn’t get why there is so much uproar over the fact that Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk won’t be meeting on Dec. 23 for the undisputed heavyweight championship.

The head of Queensberry Promotions believes it is only fair to Fury that he is afforded a few more months of rest after his tougher-than-expected tussle with former UFC champion Francis Ngannou last Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Fury overcame a third round knockdown to scrape by with a razor close split decision win after 10 rounds.

Leading up to the fight there were reports that organizers for Usyk vs. Fury were aiming to stage that fight on Dec. 23 and Fury himself, during fight week, confirmed as much.

But after the Ngannou fight, both Fury and Warren made it clear that the fight would not happen until early next year. It has been reported that the fight will now take place in February.

In a recent interview, Warren outlined the various reasons why it would not be prudent for Fury to return to the ring so quickly.

“He’s not going to be ready on the 23rd,” Warren told SecondsOut.com. “It’s not that he’s too hurt. Listen, he’s been in a camp for 12 weeks leading up to the fight. He’s a professional boxer at the highest level. He fought a guy who was an unknown quantity who actually turned out to be a real good competitor.

“More importantly he’s had a child born in that period of time, a new son, has spent no time with him, and had it been what the so-called opinion was, that it would be over in one or two rounds, the 23rd I think would’ve happened but it didn’t. It was a harder than usual night for him and he needs to go and let his body rest up from that camp.

“He needs to let his body recuperate and get back into his camp. So the fight gets postponed for two months. It’s not a big deal.”

Warren said that he feels disgruntled boxing fans need to grip, saying that as far as big fights go, Usyk vs. Fury got made more quickly than ones in the past.

“You know what, Usyk fought last August against AJ. Our team, Tyson, signed to do that fight in December. But it’s on in less than 18 months, unification for four belts. Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson took 10 years to happen. Lennox never fought Riddick Bowe. Pacquiao-Mayweather, how long did that take?

“So stop with all the nonsense and all the haters out there. Go and look at the history of these types of fights and how long they take to happen. This is happening, it’s signed. It will happen, it’s going to be exciting.”

Sean Nam is the author of Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.