Video | How Oleksandr Usyk Defeated Tyson Fury To Emerge Undisputed Heavyweight Champions
Ukrainian heavyweight boxer, Oleksandr Usyk, defeated Tyson Fury by split decision on Saturday night to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, the first since Lennox Lewis.
Fury was on the brink of being stopped in the ninth round as he received a standing count and Usyk added the WBC title to his WBA, IBF and WBO belts after earning victory with scores of 115-112, 113-114, 114-113 in Saudi Arabia.
Momentum switched in an astonishing ninth when Usyk seemingly had Fury out on his feet.
The Ukrainian smashed a left hook into Fury’s jaw. It shook him through his 6ft 9in tall frame and had him rocking across the ring.
Usyk harried him with further crunching shots, smacking Fury into one set of ropes and then another. Fury listed into the strands. He could barely stand and leaned into the rigging.
Referee Mark Nelson darted in then and administered a 10 count, apparently convinced that the ropes had kept Fury up. It could have been a fateful decision. The bell rang to end the round and save Fury from another onslaught.
At the start of the fight, Fury had appeared dialled into the best form we’ve seen from him for some time.
This lost meant 35-year-old lost for the first time in a 16-year professional career. He will get an immediate opportunity for revenge with a rematch planned for later this year.
Boxing has been waiting 25 years to crown a new undisputed world heavyweight champion since the heady days’ of Lewis’ reign. Fury and Usyk had amassed all the major world titles between them and were fighting finally to decide the first undisputed heavyweight king of the four-belt era.
How Usyk Earn This Historic Victory
Despite the importance of the fight and the historic nature of the occasion, Fury was showboating, early in the fight too. He shimmied his body when stood in a corner in the first round, slipping his head from side to side.
For a moment in the second round, he hid his hands behind his back. But it was his long, flickering jab that was connecting, just directing Usyk’s attention away from that right that Fury dug occasionally to the body.
He ended the second round with a cracking right uppercut through the middle that prompted a smile from Fury.
Usyk had shown no sign of being intimidated by his vast opponent. He’d sent a thumping left cross arching over to catch Fury’s head in the opening rounds. Solid straight shots hit Fury’s long body too.
Usyk tracked forward in the third round, as chants of his name rang out.
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Fury stayed elusive in the fourth round, sliding along the ropes. But when Usyk had him in a corner, the Ukrainian unleashed his punches forcing Fury to weave away from them.
When Fury found space to work he could direct his attentions at the Ukrainian’s body. But in the sixth round Fury truly sensed blood. A long right to the head hurt Usyk. He had to back away from Fury to recover himself and the crowd warmed to the Briton’s efforts.
Fury was in the ascendancy in the seventh round, going about his work with an expression of glee. Only right at the end of the round, when Usyk tagged him with his left cross did he sound a note of defiance to remind Fury he was up against no ordinary foe.
That prompted Fury to start the eighth round by battering hooks round either side of Usyk’s head. The Ukrainian gallantly pushed himself forward, but it was getting harder for him to find a way around Fury’s long punches.
But when Usyk hurt Fury in the ninth it changed the complexion of the fight.
The Ukrainian sought to press home his advantage in the final round, his lead hook strafing Fury’s jaw. But the Briton slugged back at him to keep Usyk off and take the fight the distance.
And that was how Usyk defeated Fury to begin his reign as world heavyweight undisputed champion.
Here are Usyk and Fury’s Reactions after the victory and the loss.
A defiant Fury said in the ring and we quote, “I believe he won a few of the rounds, but I won the majority. “It was one of the daftest decisions in boxing. I’ll be back.”
Usyk takes the WBC belt from Fury, to add to his WBA, WBO and IBF collection.
The 37-year-old remains unbeaten and is the first boxer in almost 25 years to stand tall as the sport’s sole heavyweight world champion.
Speaking afterwards, the world heavyweight undisputed champion, Usyk said and we quote, “Thank you so much to my team. It’s a big opportunity for my family, for me, for my country. It’s a great time, it’s a great day, I am ready for a rematch.”
