Undisputed champ Oleksandr Usyk will rematch Tyson Fury on Dec. 21, per Turki Alalshikh

Oleksandr Usyk will face Tyson Fury on Dec. 21 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in a rematch of a scintillating May 18 bout for the undisputed heavyweight champion, Turki Alalshikh said via social media. Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, had initially signed the men to a two-fight deal.

In boxing, though, that often means little. Alalshikh was originally targeting October for the rematch, but when the men were beaten from their first bout and needed extra time, Alalshikh gave it to them but got the rematch made in an expeditious manner.

Usyk won a split decision before a sell-out crowd at Kingdom Arena on May 18, fueled by a ninth-round knockdown, in a surprisingly entertaining battle.

Of course, it's the money at his disposal that is enabling Alalshikh to make bouts that were seemingly impossible to put together before. 

Hopefully, boxing promoters and television networks recognize the impact of what Alalshikh is doing in trying to re-build the sport. For decades, boxing has sputtered along, occasionally putting on a card that makes the sports world stop, but more often forcing the public to complain about bouts that aren't being made. In late 2009, for example, demand began to build among the public for Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao to fight.

They never fought until May 2, 2015, more than five years after talks to put the two superstars into the ring with each other first began. While the promotion was a record success, and sold 4.6 million pay-per-views, it was an indictment on the business of the sport. They could have fought three times in the nearly six years it took them to get it put together.

Combat sports are all about matchmaking, and it works well when the bouts the public wants to see are made on a regular basis.

None of the domestic promoters have the financial resources to compete with the Saudis, and it seems likely that for the time being, the mega-fights are all going to land in Saudi Arabia is Alalshikh and his group wants them. But there are plenty of other good fights to be made that will fill arenas in the U.S. and elsewhere if they're put together and promoted properly.

A legitimate concern is that fighters will hold out and not be willing to take tough fights in the U.S. in the hope of landing the big Saudi money, but their managers need to understand the value of activity and of building their boxers to a point where the Saudis seek them out.

But Usyk-Fury II is great news and, hopefully, just the start of many more big fights to come.