Boxing has a new undisputed heavyweight champion for the first time in 25 years after Oleksandr Usyk, 37, defeats Tyson Fury, 35, via split decision (114-113, 115-112, 113-114).
The 37-year-old Ukrainian Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) showed his true greatness by weathering the early storm of the much larger Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs), who had started to build up some confidence while boxing backward.
Usyk’s Pressure vs. Fury’s Counters
The fight opened with the two men looking to take the center of the ring and establish themselves as the ones leading the dance. After an initial feeling-out process, the two heavyweight legends began trading blows.
However, it was Usyk who eventually took the center of the ring and began applying his calculated pressure. Now, on the back foot, Fury, with his unwavering determination, looked to land stinging uppercuts and jabs to keep the craftier, more petite man.
As Fury found himself pushed back, Usyk capitalized on his 6-foot-7 stature. The Ukrainian tactician strategically targeted Fury’s body, a move that proved effective in closing the distance on the much taller opponent.
Come the middle rounds of the highly anticipated heavyweight clash, Fury started to prioritize battering Usyk’s body. This constant work on the more petite man’s midsection caused referee Mark Nelson to halt the action and give Fury a warning for targeting too low.
This attack on Usyk’s body annoyed the Ukrainians as this has been the sole area of past concern for the natural cruiserweight. This recalls the fifth round of Usyk’s previous bout against Daniel Dubois (20-2, 19 KOs) in Wroclaw, Poland, where he suffered a controversial low blow from Dubois on the belt-line of his fight trunks.
This punch on the belt line caused Usyk to instantaneously take a knee to the canvas and regain his stability, to which the referee then ruled the punch a low blow. He then went on to come back to finish Daniel Dubois via round-nine TKO.
The Turning Point of the Fight
In the sixth-round, Fury landed a huge right-hand uppercut on the incoming Usyk as he dipped low to close the distance. However, this did not stop the determined man from pressuring despite the threat of Fury’s counterpunching ability.
With Fury’s back up against the ropes and little to no space to negotiate with, Usyk began landing flush shots on the chin of the bigger man. The most significant moment of the fight happened in the ninth round when Usyk cut off Fury’s movement and landed a massive left hook flush on the chin, sending Fury into an off-balance spiral against the ropes.
Despite this almost fight ending sequence, Fury was able to gather his consciousness enough to be saved by the bell. This was the exact moment Usyk needed, scoring a 10-8 round to give himself a favorable chance of winning on the judges’ scorecards.
Working off the ninth-round momentum, Usyk seemingly bagged the next two rounds and gave himself a cushion going into the final round. Fury showed his true champion grit in this final round as he was able to edge it out on two of the three judges’ scorecards.
The Judges’ Scorecards
As they sat and waited for the judges’ official scorecards, both men were to be applauded for their efforts come the end of this historic heavyweight fight. Legendary ring announcer Michael Buffer finally went to the microphone and announced the totals (115-112 Usyk, 114-113 Fury, 114-113 Usyk).
Officially crowning Oleksandr Usyk as the world’s first undisputed heavyweight boxing champion since Lennox Lewis did it back in 1999 after defeating Evander Holyfield in their highly anticipated rematch.
Stay tuned for more boxing news and updates via RespectMyRegion.com
