On Sunday, Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury by split decision to win his first world heavyweight title in 25 years. This is an unprecedented feat in the four-belt era of boxing.
Britain's Fury was the early aggressor, but Usyk gradually took control and the 'Gypsy King' was saved by the bell in the ninth round before falling to his first career defeat.
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The undefeated Ukrainian Usyk joins the likes of Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis and Mike Tyson as the first undisputed heavyweight champion since boxing's four major belts were recognized in the 2000s.
With this win, the former undisputed cruiserweight champion can legitimately claim to be the best of this heavyweight era, but a rematch scheduled for October could bring further developments.
“This is a great opportunity for me, my family and my country,” said Usyk, 37, who briefly served as a soldier after the Russian invasion.
“Great time, great day,” he said, adding, “I'm ready for the rematch.”
Fury called this “a great fight with Oleksandr.”
“I think I won that fight. I think he won some rounds, but I won most of the rounds,” he said.
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“You know, his country is at war. So people are siding with countries at war, but make no mistake, I think we won that battle, and I'll be back. .”
Britain's Lennox Lewis became the last man to unify the three heavyweight belts at the time after defeating Evander Holyfield in 1999.
burning anger
Two judges scored it 115-112 and 114-113 for Usyk, and a third scored it 114-113 for Fury. With this win, Usyk's professional record improved to 22-0. After his first loss, Fury improved to his 34-1 No. 1 ranking.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has been leading the war against Russia for more than two years, posted on social media: “The Ukrainians attacked hard! And in the end all our enemies will be defeated.”
Usyk, who added Fury's WBC belt to his IBF, WBA and WBO titles, looks set to go down as one of the greats after conquering the amateur, cruiserweight and now top divisions.
A motivated Fury burst out of the corner to start the fight, and the 6ft 9in (2.06m) man quickly found a rhythm, playing to the crowd by jabbing the shorter Usyk.
Usyk moved inside with quick combinations and Fury landed heavy body shots. By the fourth round, the Manchenian was showboating, taunting his advancing opponent and letting his guard down.
Usyk landed two low shots and caught him with a left hook in the fifth round, but Fury continued to look comfortable and landed a hard uppercut in the next round, bobbing and weaving to stay out of range. .
However, the Ukrainian surprised Fury with two clean lefts in the seventh and a punishing hook in the eighth.
By the next round, a relentless Usyk barrage had Fury in serious jeopardy, and the staggering, bleeding Mancunian took a standing count, but was saved by the bell.
Fury regained his composure and both fighters began to find their targets as the fight hung in the balance heading into the final round.
ronaldo, neymar
Wladimir Klitschko was one of the legends in attendance, along with Saudi-based soccer stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar, who love boxing and benefit from the oil-rich monarchy's lavish promotion of the sport. .
Riyadh's new 22,000-capacity Kingdom Arena was packed when Usyk took to the ring walk at 1:30 a.m. (22:30 GMT) wearing a green Cossack coat and fur hat. was.
Fury followed, dancing to Barry White and Bonnie Tyler's “Holding out for a Hero” in a green sleeveless jacket and back-to-back baseball cap.
It set the stage for a clash between two fighters with impeccable pedigrees and completely different approaches to the sport.
Fury has had a checkered career, including a two-year drug ban and battles with alcohol, cocaine and depression.
Fury has dropped 15 pounds since his last fight, but he has been out of form and out of shape since being knocked down by former MMA fighter Francis Ngannou midway through a split decision in October.
Usyk, by contrast, has been a model of consistency in a career that has always been on the rise.
The 37-year-old from Simferopol, Crimea, has set an outstanding amateur record, winning European and world titles and winning Olympic gold in 2012.
After turning pro, he unified the cruiserweight belts in 15 fights, then moved up to heavyweight, taking three belts from Anthony Joshua in 2021 and winning a rematch the following year.
