And Usik did not allow Fury to use his main trump card – anthropometry
May 19 Ukrainian Alexander Usik suffered the first defeat in his professional career Tyson Furytook the WBC belt from the Briton and became the absolute world heavyweight champion. Despite winning by split decision, Usik’s final victory is beyond doubt. As well as the fact that Alexander and his team did excellent preparatory work – Fury’s main trump card in the fight did not work. And one of the technological innovations, first tested in a boxing match of this level in real time, showed where Usyk surpassed Fury.
The Ukrainian pressed harder and was more aggressive
The Usik-Fury fight went down in history not only as the first fight for the title of absolute world heavyweight champion in the last 25 years, but the first fight at this level in the history of martial arts, at which artificial intelligence worked online.
The AI introduced and developed by Jabbr not only counted the number of thrown/accurate shots, transmitting the data to the broadcasters, but also analyzed several important indicators. These include aggression and pressure from boxers, damage caused by received blows.
According to the AI, Usik surpassed Fury in aggression in seven rounds, lost in four, and the boxers performed on equal terms in one. The Ukrainian was also better in terms of putting pressure on his opponent. In other words, exactly the components that Fury is famous for.
Fury couldn’t do anything with Usik in the clinch
But Usik’s work in the clinch looks much more impressive. Where Fury was obviously given an advantage because of his superiority in anthropometry – 15 centimeters in height and at least 17 kilograms in weight.
Let’s note that there weren’t that many clinches during the 12 rounds – Usik worked great on his feet, plus Fury seemed to have decided to compete with the Ukrainian in boxing skills. And when the Gypsy King managed to “fall” on the Ukrainian, the Briton did not receive any benefit due to the excellent work of the Ukrainian.
This is your reminder that for all the talk of Fury’s ability to lean, smother and maul, he never had the means to better Usyk in tie-ups. Real ones knew Usyk had the answers with his stellar positioning and control game. pic.twitter.com/H7SolPx4W4
— Ollie (@Raderecht02) May 20, 2024
Usik became the fifth fighter to knock down Fury in the pro ring
No matter how we feel about the referee’s decision to give Fury a standing knockdown, we cannot help but note another fact. Usik became the fifth fighter to knock down the Gypsy King in the professional ring. What’s more, Fury has only heard the referee count eight times in 242 rounds as a pro.
Before Usik, Neven Pajkic (in 2011), Steve Cunningham (in 2013), Deontay Wilder twice each in the first (2018) and third (in 2021), as well as Francis Ngannou managed to knock down Fury (in 2023).
Source: Sportarena
I am Ben Stock and I work in Athletistic as an author. My specialty is covering football news and other related topics. I have been writing for this website since the past 2 years, crafting compelling stories with the latest updates in the sports world. My articles have gained widespread appreciation amongst readers due to their accuracy and depth of research.
