Tyson Fury was bigger. Oleksandr Usyk was better. And, as the latter implied beforehand, skill generally trumps everything else.
Usyk overcame some shaky early rounds to score a dramatic knockdown in Round 9 and go on to defeat Fury by a split decision Saturday at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, becoming the first undisputed heavyweight champion in a quarter-century.
One judge scored it for Fury, 114-113, but the other two had Usyk winning, 115-112 and 114-113, in a rousing fight that couldn’t have been much closer.
