The fight for the title of absolute world champion between British Tyson Fury and Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk, which took place on Sunday night in Riyadh, ended in victory for the Ukrainian boxer.
Usyk defeated Fury by split decision (115-112, 114-113 and 113-114).
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko congratulated Usyk on his victory.
This is the first-ever fight for the title of absolute world heavyweight champion in the era of four belts. Usyk defended the WBA, WBO, and IBF championship belts and tried to take away the WBC title that belonged to Fury.
Usyk started the fight more actively. Fury allowed the Ukrainian to strike at him, although he missed a left to the temple in the end.
During the first half of the fight, the boxers did not change their roles: Usyk threw more punches and pinned Fury near the corner. The Briton tried to counterattack, in particular with uppercuts. It was only in the sixth round that Fury looked more noticeable than Usyk and landed several strong blows on the Ukrainian.
The seventh round was the most active in the Usyk-Fury fight. First, there was another uppercut from Fury. And closer to the end, Usyk landed a series of powerful punches on the Briton.
In the eighth round, Usyk was able to punch Fury right in the nose, after which the Briton began to bleed. In the ninth, the Briton was knocked down.
Usyk continued to dominate Fury in the next two rounds. Only in the 11th round did the Briton manage to partially regain control of the fight.
The winner of the Usyk-Fury fight was to be determined by the judges’ notes: both boxers lasted all 12 rounds. The Ukrainian won by a split decision of the judges.
Tyson Fury reportedly demanded a rematch from the Ukrainian boxer in October. Oleksandr Usyk accepted the rematch.
Tyson Fury is undefeated in his 35-fight career
Tyson Fury says Oleksandr Usyk is too small to compete with him in their undisputed heavyweight world title fight.
Briton Fury, 35, is the WBC champion, while Ukraine’s Usyk, 36, holds the WBA, WBO and IBF belts.
Fury said former cruiserweight champion Usyk will be “found wanting” on 18 May in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“You can beat the average big ones but you can’t beat the elite big ones,” he said.
“Size is what really matters and we have weight divisions for a reason.”
A former undisputed champion at cruiserweight, Usyk beat Briton Anthony Joshua to become unified heavyweight champion in 2021.
The most recent undisputed heavyweight champion was Britain’s Lennox Lewis in 1999. Fury-Usyk will be the first time in the four-belt era that every title is on the line.
February’s bout was rescheduled after Fury suffered a cut in a freak sparring accident two weeks before the fight.
Fury described himself as an “encyclopaedia in boxing” and listed several cruiserweight greats, including Evander Holyfield and David Haye, who were beaten after stepping up to heavyweight.
He said Usyk’s previous opponents, such as Britain’s Daniel Dubois, had “limited ability”.
“If Tyson Fury can’t beat Usyk, Tyson’s no good. End of,” he said.
“This is my time, my destiny, my era and my generation. Facts.”
After his manager, trainer and promoter predicted a knockout win for Fury, he ended the news conference by joking that Usyk would knock him out in the first round.
Fury’s co-promoter Frank Warren said the fight is the “biggest of the 21st Century”.
The fight for the title of absolute world champion between British Tyson Fury and Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk, scheduled for February 17, will not take place, Suspilne reports, citing Mike Coppinger, a journalist for the American international sports TV channel ESPN.
“On Friday, February 2, the Briton suffered a cut on his face during a sparring session. Fury was stitched up, due to which the WBC belt holder will not have time to prepare for the fight in February,” the statement said.
It is noted that this is the second time the fight has been postponed.
Der ukrainische Boxer Oleksandr Usyk sagte, dass er in Zukunft nur noch an einem Kampf gegen den Briten Tyson Fury interessiert sei, berichtet champion.com.ua.
“Tyson Fury hat sich nicht zurückgezogen, er will boxen. Mein Team arbeitet in diese Richtung. Ich werde mit Tyson Fury boxen oder ich werde überhaupt nicht boxen. Nur Gott weiß, ob ich der absolute Champion werde. Aber mein Team wird helfen.” mich damit“, sagte Usyk nach seinem Rückkampfsieg über Anthony Joshua.
Usyk besiegte Joshua zum zweiten Mal und verteidigte seine IBF-, WBA-, WBO- und IBO-Titel. Usyk gewann auch den vakanten The Ring-Gürtel.
WBC-Weltmeister Tyson Fury wiederum, der kürzlich seinen Rücktritt bekannt gab, kündigte an, im Profiboxen bleiben zu wollen.
„Der Zigeunerkönig bleibt hier“, twitterte Fury, nachdem Usyk Joshua in einem Rückkampf besiegt hatte.
