Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk has defeated the United Kingdom’s Tyson Fury to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Usyk last night defeated Fury by split decision to unify the WBA, WBO, WBC and IBF world titles; Fury and Usyk were fighting at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh to decide the first undisputed world heavyweight champion in 25 years, the first of the four-belt era
Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury by split decision to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, the first since Lennox Lewis.
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Fury was on the brink of being stopped in the ninth round as he received a standing count and Usyk added the WBC title to his WBA, IBF and WBO belts after earning victory with scores of 115-112, 113-114, 114-113 in Saudi Arabia.
At the start of the fight Fury had appeared dialled into the best form we’ve seen from him for some time.
Boxing has been waiting 25 years to crown a new undisputed world heavyweight champion since the heady days’ of Lewis’ reign. Fury and Usyk had amassed all the major world titles between them and were fighting finally to decide the first undisputed heavyweight king of the four-belt era.
Fury thought the decision should have gone his way though. “I believe I won that fight,” he declared. “I believe he won a few rounds but I won more of them.
“Make no mistake I won that fight and I’ll be back,” he continued. “We go back to our families and we run it back in October.
“I’m not going to sit here and cry and make excuses.”
Usyk has become the first man to be called the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world since Lennox Lewis in 1999.
Fury has called for a rematch as stipulated in the fight terms.
When Oleksandr Usyk’s hand was raised at about 02:40 local time in Saudi Arabia, ringside reporters, a 20,000-strong crowd and the millions watching around the world soaked in the moment.
The Ukrainian superstar edged out Briton Tyson Fury on points as the most super of super-fights delivered.
Boxing had its first undisputed heavyweight champion in the four-belt era, and it really was a big deal.
The wait for a definitive champion had been painstakingly long, one fans of no other sport have to endure.
Lennox Lewis became the last undisputed champion – when there were only three recognised world titles – on 13 November 1999, at a time when Geri Halliwell topped the UK charts and society was gripped by Y2K bug anxieties.
From Jack Dempsey to Muhammad Ali or George Foreman to Mike Tyson, an undisputed heavyweight champion holds a certain notoriety and stature on a global level which perhaps only boxing can provide.
Usyk was already a boxing superstar, but in Riyadh he transcended the sport.
Courtesy: SkySport/AlJazeera
