Oleksandr Usyk Beats Tyson Fury By Split Decision to Win Undisputed Heavyweight Title
Oleksandr Usyk established himself as the baddest man in boxing's heavyweight division with a split decision win over Tyson Fury to unify all four belts and become the undisputed champion from Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The bout was everything the fans could have hoped for.
Usyk grabbed the early lead, landing a few clean left hands in the opening round. Fury came out loose and played to the ground despite taking the shots.
Usyk was the much smaller man in the ring, but he commanded respect early. He fought off the front foot and cut angles that forced Fury into the corner. His ability to put the pressure on early had analysts and fellow fighters sitting up and taking notice.
Fury started to land some offense of his own in Round 3. He continued to fight off the back foot, but he had some preliminary success with his jab and got the fight to the center of the ring a few times.
By the fifth round Fury started to really figure out Usyk's timing and landed with more regularity. While Usyk's early aggression was beneficial early on, Fury was brilliant in using it against him and took over by the middle rounds. His lead uppercut was particularly successful:
Not to be counted out, Usyk came roaring back. After picking up some momentum in Round 7, he caught Fury with a few good two-punch combinations that bloodied the Gypsy King.
That wasn't the end of Usyk's assault. He let go of a massive right-left that turned Fury's head and had him wobbling against the ropes before the ref having him a standing eight count in the ninth round.
Fury showcased his impressive recovery skills to ride out the ninth round and finish the fight and force the fight to the judges' cards.
Usyk has done a lot to write his name in heavyweight history despite a relatively short stay in the division. The Ukrainian was a cruiserweight for most of his professional career but made the switch to heavyweight in 2019.
Just under five years later he's proved he's the best heavyweight in the world. Not only does he now have a win over Fury, but he beat Anthony Joshua twice to win his other heavyweight titles.
His ability to beat an elite opponent in a rematch could be put to the test again.
Queensberry Promotions founder and Fury's promoter Frank Warren noted that an immediate rematch clause was included in the contract for the first fight.
"The loser of the fight, which I hope to be Usyk, but the loser of the fight has the option to call for the rematch," Warren said on The MMA Hour. "That rematch, he will get extremely, extremely well paid for. Huge money."
Warren also noted that the rematch could be booked for October.
It will be interesting to see if Fury wants to pursue a second fight. He came into this bout in much better shape than he did in his October 2023 matchup with MMA star Francis Ngannou. He weighed in at 262 pounds after weighing in at 277.5 against Ngannou.
Perhaps the first loss of his career will push him to an even higher level. He'll need it to best Usyk in a rematch.
