Victory in mega-fight
Fury defeated! Usyk is now the sole ruler
Ukrainian professional boxer Oleksandr Usyk holds all the major heavyweight world titles for the first time since Lennox Lewis 25 years ago. The 37-year-old defeated the previously unbeaten Briton Tyson Fury on points (115:112, 113:114, 114:113) in a twelve-round unification fight on Sunday night.
After a thrilling duel and a strong comeback by Usyk in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, he now holds the world titles of the IBF, WBO, WBA and WBC as well as the IBO. Fury had defended the WBC belt.
Fury starts strongly
Fury dominated the first few rounds and put a lot of pressure on the Ukrainian. However, Usyk came back impressively, especially in the second half of the fight. The duel, which had to be postponed several times due to financial disputes between the two camps and a sensational cut injury suffered by Fury, was described by many experts as a boxing event of the century. Both professionals went into the duel undefeated.
"It was such a great opportunity for me, for my family and my country. Glory to Ukraine," said Usyk, who dedicated his victory to the Ukrainian soldiers who fought against Russia. Usyk agreed to a rematch while still in the ring.
Speed advantages
In front of the eyes of former world champions Wladimir Klitschko and Anthony Joshua and the soccer superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar, who are employed in Saudi Arabia, the Ukrainian, nicknamed "the Cat", wanted to rely on his speed advantages - against the 15 centimeter taller Fury. But the Ukrainian was unable to use his agility well enough in the first half of the fight.
In the spectacle advertised as the "Ring of Fire", the eccentric Fury started with his usual provocative games. Usyk remained unimpressed and threw many punches to the body. But the 2.06 meter tall Brit put his enormous punching power and reach to good use, maltreating Usyk with his powerful right fist. The brute uppercuts from Fury, who dominated at times, put the Ukrainian under massive pressure. However, Usyk came back in the eighth round and gave his opponent a bloody nose with clever punch combinations. In the ninth round, Usyk completely turned the fight around and brought Fury to the brink of an early defeat.
Both professionals went into the duel undefeated. Usyk had taken his world titles from Anthony Joshua in 2021 and successfully defended them against the Brit in 2022. In 2015, Fury had surprisingly defeated Wladimir Klitschko to become world champion. He later relinquished the titles, returned in 2018 and won the WBC title against Deontay Wilder.
Fight of the century
The duel, which had to be postponed several times due to financial disputes between the two camps and Fury's injuries, was previously described by many experts as the boxing event of the century. Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield last fought two memorable unification fights in 1999.
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