RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – On Sunday, Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury by split decision to become the first undisputed heavyweight boxing champion in 24 years.
Usyk (22-0) claimed Fury’s WBA, IBF and IBO belts with a stunning late rally with a nine-round KO in a back-and-forth bout between two previously undefeated heavyweight champions. Added WBC title.
Two judges sided with Usyk 115-112 and 114-113, and a third judge gave Fury a 114-113 victory.
“It’s a great time. It’s a great day,” Usyk said.
Usyk got off to a quick start but had to survive while the confident and charismatic Fury dominated the middle rounds. Usyk, as the Ukrainian Olympic gold medalist has done many times in his career, rallied in the final round, taking control with a dominant eighth and nearly stopping Fury in the ninth.
Usyk hurt Fury (34-1-1) with a left hand that sent him sprawling into the corner in the final seconds of the round, knocking him down just before Fury was saved by the bell.
Fury made it all the way to 10th place, but struggled to mount a consistent attack after coming close to being stopped.
“Thank you so much to my team,” Usyk said in the ring, fighting back tears. “This is a great opportunity for me, for my family and for my country. Slava Ukraine!”
After the final bell, Fury kissed Usyk on the head. He also said Fury wants a rematch in October.
“I believe I won that fight,” Fury said. “I think he won a few rounds, but I won most of them. I think it was one of those hopeless decisions in boxing.” We both had a good fight, We did the best we could.
“You know, his country is at war, so people are on the side of the country at war. But don’t get me wrong, in my opinion, I won that battle, and I won’t go back.” There’s a rematch clause.”
Usyk, 37, is the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis held the honor for five months in 1999 and 2000. He is also currently the lineal heavyweight champion, having defeated Fury, who earned that honor by defeating Wladimir Klitschko in 2015.
Usyk is six inches shorter than the 6-foot-9 Fury and weighed 30 pounds less than the hulking British star this week.
Since moving up from cruiserweight to heavyweight in 2019, Usyk’s physical differences have not been an issue for him, as he has used his athleticism and skill to counter every challenge he has faced.
According to CompuBox stats, Usyk landed 41% of his 407 punches, while Fury only landed 31.7% of his 496 punches.
Usyk threw more power punches (260 vs. 210) and landed more power punches (122 vs. 95).
Usyk won three title belts in 2021 by defeating Anthony Joshua and defended them with two title defenses for the ultimate prize: a fight with Fury in Saudi Arabia.
Usyk has now joined an elite club of fighters who have held all the major world championship belts at heavyweight. And he became the first to do so in the four-belt era that began in 2007. The list of undisputed champions includes Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Floyd Patterson, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Mike Tyson.
The most recent undisputed heavyweight champion was Lewis, who defeated Evander Holyfield in late 1999 and enjoyed a five-month reign.
He quickly lost the title due to the territorial disputes that have plagued boxing for the past quarter century and are regularly fought to prevent the biggest fights from happening.
Fury and Usyk both wanted this matchup, and it was largely due to Saudi Arabia’s involvement that they were finally able to meet in the ring together, and the financial reward meant that the fighters typically rebelled against each other. The amount was too large for most promoters and sanctioning bodies to refuse. Fury will reportedly earn more than $100 million for this fight.
The match started at 1:45 a.m. Sunday at Kingdom Arena to reach the lucrative pay-per-view audience in the West.
