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Usyk defeats Fury to become undisputed heavyweight champion
Following his victory over British boxing sensation Tyson Fury earlier today, May 19, Oleksandr Usyk has emerged as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, after the fight, the Ukrainian prevailed on a split decision.
In a back-and-forth battle between two heavyweight champions who had never lost before, Usyk (22-0) added Fury’s WBC title to his own WBA, IBF, and IBO titles with an incredible late comeback that was capped off with a ninth-round knockout.
114-113 to Fury, according to the third judge, while 115-112 and 114-113 went in favour of Usyk.
Usyk started quickly, but then had to survive while the confident, charismatic Fury dominated the middle rounds. Usyk rallied in the final rounds, just as the Ukrainian Olympic gold medalist has done so many times in his career, taking control with a dominant eighth and nearly stopping Fury in the ninth.
Usyk hurt Fury (34-1-1) with a left hand and eventually sent him sprawling into a corner in the final seconds of the round, getting credit for a knockdown right before Fury was saved by the bell. Fury made it to the 10th, but he struggled to mount a consistent attack after nearly getting stopped.
Fury disputed his loss after the match, saying:
“I believe I won that fight. I think he won a few rounds but I won the majority of them. His country is at war, so people are siding with the country at war. Make no mistake, I won that fight in my opinion.”
In response Usyk said he was “ready for rematch,” but later added: “I don’t think about rematch now, I want to rest.”
The 37-year-old Usyk is the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis held the honor for five months in 1999 and 2000. He is also now the lineal heavyweight champion by beating Fury, who beat Wladimir Klitschko to earn that distinction in 2015.
