Athletistic/ Boxing. Ukrainian WBO/WBA/IBF/IBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (22-0, 14 KO) defeated WBC titleholder Tyson Fury (34-1-1, 24 KO) of Great Britain in a fight for the title of absolute heavyweight champion. The fight took place at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia).
In the first round, the boxers looked at each other more closely, at the same time, Fury let himself have a little fun by lowering his hands.
In the fourth and fifth rounds, Tyson acted more actively and delivered more blows, including to the body. In the sixth round, the Briton began to feel even more confident, Usyk missed several dangerous shots from below.
In the eighth round, Alexander returned fully to the fight and delivered a series of successful blows. At the end of the ninth, the Ukrainian began to dominate and, after a long series, knocked Tyson down. The Briton was saved by ropes and a gong.
In the championship rounds, Fury managed to recover from a knockdown and find opportunities to strike again. Usyk continued to pursue his line, but failed to finish off his opponent.
The judges’ split decision tally gave Usyk the victory – 115-112, 113-114 and 114-113.
Usik became the first outright heavyweight world champion in the four-belt era. In the heavyweight division, the last time Lennox Lewis held absolute status was in 1999, but three titles were enough for this title then.
Alexander is the second boxer in history after Evander Holyfield, who was the absolute cruiserweight and heavyweight world champion. In addition, the Ukrainian boxer became the third (after Terence Crawford and Naoya Inoue) in the era of four prestigious titles to become the absolute champion in two weight categories.
It has been reported that an agreement has been reached between Usyk and Fury for a new fight. Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority Turki Al al-Sheikh said the rematch between Alexander and Tyson was scheduled for October 12-13 in Riyadh.
The Ukrainian boxer achieved a historic result: There are 10 facts that prove Usik’s greatness:
Usik did not fight any of his championship fights at home in Ukraine.
Usik inflicted the first defeat of his professional career on Tyson Fury. Before that, the Briton had won 34 out of 35 fights, ending one match in a draw.
The first boxer to land more than 130 accurate punches on Fury was Oleksandr Usyk. Before that, the most Gypsy King missed in a fight was 127 shots.
Usik became the first heavyweight boxer to win four championship belts.
Usik became the first absolute world heavyweight champion in the last 25 years.
Usik became the second boxer in history to win the title of absolute world champion in the top heavyweight and super-heavyweight categories after Evander Holyfield. True, the American needed three belts for this.
The fight with Fury was the third of Usik’s eight decision victories, in which he did not win by unanimous decision. The first was a fight with Mairis Briedis for the WBO and WBC cruiserweight titles. Then one referee ruled it a draw, the other two gave Usik the victory. The second was a new fight with Joshua, where two judges gave victory to the Ukrainian, one to the British.
Usik became the third active boxer to win outright world titles in two categories after Crawford and Inoue.
Eight boxers who previously or at the time of the fight with him held championship belts were defeated by Usyk.
Usik needed 22 fights to become the absolute world champion in the top heavyweight and super-heavyweight divisions. It took Holyfield 25 fights.
Source: Sport
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
