All the talking finally stopped, and nobody will ever forget round nine of the first fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury in Riyadh back in May.
Fury was hit from corner to corner, reeling, out on his feet, wide-eyed but defiant, and Usyk chased him like an animal pursuing wounded prey. It was a minute of total boxing madness; Fury survived the round and was still standing at the end of the 12 rounds. Usyk got the verdict, became the first undisputed world heavyweight champion for 25 years and on Saturday, back in Riyadh, he will enter the ring as the king. And being king is never easy in the boxing business.
Usyk and Fury have both promised a new and improved version for their rematch; they have each talked about adjustments once the first bell sounds at the Kingdom Arena in the latest of the Riyadh Season fights. Fury has talked about being more serious and Usyk has talked about doing more of the same, just doing it better. They probably both worked out a way to win during the first fight, which was a slender split decision in the end. Usyk won the fight in the ninth when he hurt and nearly dropped Fury; the referee gave Fury a count because the ropes had kept him upright, and that extra point was the slender difference between winning and losing.
There were signs in the first fight that the end is not far away for either of the two men; Fury is now 36, has fought 36 times and has been a professional boxer for 17 years. He has also had bad years, days when he looked at death, hid in the darkest of places and gained 10 stone in flab. Usyk is 38 in January and has never had an easy fight since turning professional in 2013; he has been matched hard from the start and in 22 fights he has managed to become the undisputed champion at both cruiserweight and heavyweight. In private, they talk of exhaustion and bodies that are simply getting closer to shutting down. At the end of the first fight, they were both near collapse.
As the camps have arrived in Saudi Arabia, so the task of identifying any sign of decline has started. They have handled injuries, like all world-class veterans in any sport, but the painful rigours of boxing, with the emphasis on sparring, often means that recuperating is hindered by the need to do another six or eight rounds. It’s a brutal game on both sides of the ropes, especially during the weeks and months of intensive training camps.
Usyk might start as a small favourite, but Fury has revenge as a motivational device and that has been crucial in so many rematches. Fury in the second fight with Deontay Wilder was a different man, altering his style and walking through Wilder in seven rounds. However, that tactic against Usyk might be a disaster.
Usyk beat Antony Joshua in their rematch and did just about the same as he did in their first fight. Usyk is not a wasteful fighter, and it is very unlikely that he will look any different against Fury on Saturday. The onus is on Fury to change, to plan, and to carry out a sensible strategy. Fury has that ability – the risk is in the tactic he selects.
There is a chance that both men could grow old overnight, as we say in boxing, and that their best nights are lost to history. That could happen and if either of the pair have slipped, it will make for an even better fight than their thrilling first encounter. They are both under pressure and at the same time, they have nothing to prove. It is perfectly poised.
“Just imagine how much pressure Oleksandr was under,” said an emotional Wladimir Klitschko after the first fight. “This win was for everybody in Ukraine. That fight is still going.” A lot of big men were in tears. “I just want to eat and sleep, and kiss my wife,” Usyk said, his cheeks glistening with tears of joy.
The ring and ringside at the end were a complicated mix of broken men and joyous men; the ring filled with the famous and the infamous and Usyk and Fury were still embracing. “We will do it again,” they whispered to each other. Fury sealed the deal with a kiss on Usyk’s head – on Saturday they start again, same pride, same ring. They will do it all again.
