Oleksandr Usyk made history by becoming the first undisputed heavyweight champion in 25 years with a monumental victory over Tyson Fury. In a thrilling bout, Usyk dropped Fury in the ninth round and secured a split decision win. The scorecards read 115-112 and 114-113 in Usyk’s favor, with the third judge giving it to Fury at 114-113, marking the Brit’s first career defeat.
The last time all the heavyweight belts were unified was in 1999 when Lennox Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield. At the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Usyk claimed the WBC, WBA, IBF, and WBO titles, becoming the first undisputed champion of the four-belt era.
From the outset, both fighters were cautious, testing each other with jabs. Usyk landed the best shot of the first round with a solid backhand that snapped Fury’s head back. In the second round, Usyk connected with a looping left hand. Despite Fury’s taunts, he couldn’t avoid Usyk’s scoring punches.
Fury managed to land significant body shots later in the round, but Usyk continued to press forward, keeping Fury on the defensive. By the fourth round, Fury found his rhythm, landing a powerful right hand to the body and ending the round confidently. A small cut above Usyk’s eye, likely from a clash of heads, emerged in the fifth round, but Fury’s body shots continued to trouble Usyk.
In the sixth round, Fury wobbled Usyk with a clean right uppercut followed by a flurry of body shots. However, Usyk recovered and found a second wind, landing effective overhand lefts in the second half of the fight. Fury developed significant swelling under his right eye by the end of the eighth round, and Usyk capitalized by swarming Fury with a barrage of punches in the ninth, causing Fury to stagger and receive a count.
Usyk maintained the pressure in the tenth round, while Fury focused on staying out of trouble. In the final rounds, Fury regained his composure, but the knockdown and Usyk’s relentless pressure gave the Ukrainian the edge.
After the fight, Usyk, now a two-weight undisputed champion, dedicated his victory to his supporters and country. “Since 2008, I was planning for this. It’s not for my win; it’s for my God, my supporters, my country, the Ukrainian soldiers, Ukrainian mothers and fathers, and children,” he said.
Fury, believing he had won the fight, acknowledged the decision and vowed to return. “I believe I won that fight. I believe he won a few of the rounds, but I won the majority of them. What can you do? It’s one of the decisions in boxing. We both put on a good fight,” he said.
The two are set to face each other again on October 12/13 due to a rematch clause in their contracts, promising another epic showdown.
Credit: TalkSport
