Heavyweight boxing

Fury against Usyk! The fight of the century is imminent

Tyson Fury (left) takes on Oleksandr Usyk.

(Bild: AFP/APA/Fayez Nureldine)

There is a lot at stake in Saturday night's heavyweight show in Riyadh. For the first time since Lennox Lewis 25 years ago, the winner of the boxing match of the century between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk can become the so-called "Undisputed Champion". 

He secures all four major world titles of the IBF, WBO, WBA and WBC associations - and thus a much-noticed place in boxing history. The IBO title is also at stake. Lewis is expecting a "fifty-fifty thing".

The first bell has not even sounded yet, but blood has already flowed. Not for the two heavyweight world champions, however, but for the eccentric father of Briton Fury. At the beginning of the week, he had suffered a bloody wound to his forehead when he headbutted a member of Usyk's team, causing a scandal. Nerves seem to be on edge ahead of the eagerly awaited world championship unification match. "His father is nervous. He's trying to fight the smallest guy on Usyk's team," blasphemed Usyk's promoter Alexander Krassyuk.

"It's great. It's good for me, but also very important for my country," said Usyk, who wants to dedicate his victory to the Ukrainian soldiers fighting against Russia. Promoter Frank Warren spoke some time ago of the "biggest boxing event of the century".

Who will suffer the first defeat?
Both boxing stars are still undefeated. The nimble Usyk (21 wins) is likely to want to cause problems for the 15 centimeter taller Fury (34 wins), especially with his speed. "Fury has never had to deal with such speed," Krassyuk told the portal "sport.de". "Tyson has advantages in size, reach and weight. Period. Usyk has advantages in speed, boxing IQ and technique."

Usyk had snatched his world titles from Anthony Joshua in 2021 and successfully defended them against the Brit in 2022. Even after that, the fight against Fury was eagerly awaited. In 2015, Fury had surprisingly defeated Wladimir Klitschko to become world champion. He later relinquished all his titles and battled depression and drug use. In 2018, he was back - and snatched the WBC title.

Fight threatened to fail
As befits such a big fight, the scheduling of the event was a tough struggle. Differences of opinion regarding the monetary split almost led to negotiations being broken off. According to several media reports, Fury will receive more than 100 million dollars for the fight, while Usyk is set to receive less.

But it was not only money that delayed the fight. Both were due to fight each other on December 23. However, Fury, who appeared untrained at the time, suffered a cut in an exhibition fight against former MMA champion Francis Ngannou a few weeks earlier - and then had to take a break. A short time later, Fury suffered another cut while sparring in preparation for his fight against Usyk in February. And again the spectacle had to be postponed. But now nothing should stand in the way of the fight of the century.