Oleksandr Usyk remains the shining king of boxing’s dark and chaotic world. The great Ukrainian retained his three titles as the heavyweight champion of the world when he defeated Tyson Fury on points in a defining contest in the early hours of Sunday morning in Riyadh. Usyk boxed with clinical authority to win clearly by a score of 116-112 on all three cards.
The pace was unrelenting and, ultimately, Usyk was just too fast, too smart and too skilled for Fury. His movement, accuracy and precision of punching were exemplary. Fury fought brilliantly at times but he could not sustain any real pitch of intensity. He began to flag at key moments of the bout as Usyk pulled away to secure his comprehensive victory.
That was not how Fury saw it, shaking his head in disbelief and leaving the ring without saying a word. His promoter, Frank Warren, said: “How did Tyson only get four rounds in this fight? It’s impossible … It’s nuts. It’s nuts, I don’t get it. I’m really disappointed with that.”
Fury walked out initially to Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You, looking a little like Santa himself in a red and white gown and with his big bushy beard that he had allowed to grow wild and free all through his long training camp. Usyk, meanwhile, strode fast to the ring with a deep seriousness of purpose and an expression of ferocious intensity etched across his face. Once between the ropes he knelt down in his corner and prayed.
The names of both fighters were chanted by small pockets of the crowd as they walked to the centre of the ring for the referee’s final instructions.
Fury, weighing over 50 pounds more than Usyk, was notably fleshy around the midriff as they stalked each other. Usyk, despite being much the smaller man, was intent on finding a way to get on the front foot but Fury pumped out his jab effectively and shaded the first two rounds. But Usyk set sharp puzzles of movement and he won the third and the fourth when he briefly rocked Fury.
Fury’s best round of the fight was the fifth, when he used his trademark uppercut with bludgeoning force. Usyk was forced to retreat near the end of the round but in the sixth, as the pace slowed for the first time, the champion clipped Fury with a searing left.
There was still parity halfway through the fight but, from the seventh round on, Usyk began to dominate. The massive weight difference seemed to work against the hulking Fury, who began to tire and take in deep gulps of breath. Usyk’s lateral movement and crisp punching enabled him to stretch ahead and in the last third of the bout there was little doubt that he would retain his titles.
As the lights shone down on the two fighters, the sweat glistened on Fury’s back in a sign of how much effort he was being forced to exert. Usyk bobbed, weaved and skittered, moving in and out, befitting his nickname of the Cat, and then landed crunching punches which bruised and marked up his opponent’s face.
But the defeated Fury still fought valiantly and the last round featured numerous brutal exchanges. Fury, in search of a knockout, landed some heavy shots but Usyk would not buckle and he fired back. It was an exhilarating end to a gripping contest.
This was another extraordinary achievement for Usyk. The former undisputed world cruiserweight champion replicated the feat at heavyweight – which is clearly a division above his natural weight – and he remains the WBA, WBC and WBO champion. Boxing politics meant the IBF belt was stripped from him in the summer and handed to Daniel Dubois – whom Usyk beat last year. But there can be no doubting either the gravitas or the lustre of the true champion.
Having suffered a split-decision loss to Usyk in their first fight in May, Fury had locked himself away in a 12-week training camp to prepare himself for the rematch. He apparently did not speak even once to his wife, Paris, throughout the isolation of that brutal training regime and insisted this past week that his focus on Usyk has been relentless.
But Fury also piled on extra weight in a clear strategy to use his immense bulk to dominate Usyk physically. Allied to his height advantage – with Fury being half a foot taller than Usyk – the 36-year-old from Morecambe in Lancashire was intent on trying to rough up the indomitable champion. Fury’s strategy didn’t work against a superior fighter.
Earlier this week, the 37-year-old Usyk had to be coaxed into considering his impact on the battered morale of his country. While trying to downplay his status, Usyk told a moving story of how news of his victory last May spread down the frontline of Ukrainian soldiers. Their weariness turned to elation as they heard that he had overcome all odds to defeat Fury.
A second straight victory over his giant opponent will feel all the sweeter now.
Usyk raised his arms high, relief and joy coursing through him. This remarkable champion and his beleaguered yet defiant country deserve to exalt in his enduring supremacy.
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