In a long-awaited bout for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world, WBA/IBF/WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) took the belt of WBC champion Tyson Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) by twelve round split decision on Saturday night at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Usyk pressed the action and made Fury work every moment. Fury did good work to the body while Usyk connected with a straight left hands to the head. The 6’9 Fury began to find his range in round four, connecting from long range. Fury hurt Usyk with body shots in round six. Usyk adjusted with several good connects to shade round seven. Usyk repeatedly connected with Fury in round eight. Usyk rocked Fury and dropped him in round nine. Fury was reeling and barely survived. Fury attempted to box from a distance in rounds ten and eleven. In the final round, both had their moments. Scores were 115-112, 114-113 Usyk, 114-113 Fury.
Usyk became the third man to achieve undisputed status in two divisions, joining Terence Crawford and Naoya Inoue.
The title may only be undisputed for a short time as the IBF won’t permit the automatic rematch.
Like I said, the gypsy queen.
Rob, that “Gypsy Queen” has accomplished more in one lifetime than you could in 100. Razor thin fight. Great performance by both men. Nothing “Queen” about it.
Gimme a break. It was a helluva fight.
Calling Fury the Gypsy Queen is childish.
At the same time it must be awkward to know that the Gypsy Queen has more balls than most men.
Usyk made history yesterday. It doesn’t overshadow what Fury has achieved so far.
– – Fury never defended his unified titles won illicitly when he should’ve been on drug suspension.
Ducked AJ the unified champ and ducked Usyk until he was shamed into the ring to get beat up and KDed yet again.
Needs to retire along with his vicious Daddy…
Wow. Fury and Cordina both go down, two loudmouths getting spanked. Wonderful.
not that surprised. good for Usyk.
What an incredibly entertaining fight. When Usyk moved up to heavyweight, I didn’t think he would win it all, but he did win it all and he did it against the best! Beat AJ twice and now Fury. What a Warrior, what a Warrior.
Who’s looking forward to the rematch in the fall?
Usyk will do it again,he broke fury will usyk was my pick and he did it,so impressive
I think Fury wins the rematch. He just needs to fight the same way less getting caught in the 9th.
Big don’t spell bad! Fury tried to use his size and it didn’t work on Usyk like on previous opponents. Almost KOED Fury but ref ruined that . goes to show ya skills always prevail.
Agree with your comment on the referee, he twice seemed to try to stop Usyk from attacking when Fury was in trouble, though the knockdown was legitimate.
It should have been stopped in the round 9 the referee gave fury a big break he was out….
He really didn’t use his size not consistently
I was wrong….. Hats off to Usyk…… Great fight
Scooby-Doo I bet it all on on usyk. You said fury
Yep, I was wrong….That’s ok. 50/50 shot either way ya go! Congrats!
They almost gave the victory to the clown
Deserved win for Usyk. I had it 115 – 112…
even though my prediction was correct, I have to give Fury credit for showing more handspeed, fluency and ring generalship than I expected. A lesser fighter than usyk could have gone down several times from the body shots and uppercuts. The difference was balls. Usyk has incredible balls and fortitude and wanted it more. Fury threatened to take over in the middle rounds, but Usyk bit down on his gumshield and kept pressing forward and applying pressure. Usyk answered adversity in the same way that he answered adversity in round 10 of the 2nd joshua fight, when joshua had him under serious physical pressure. He bit down, moved up another gear, and took over. As I said, key to Usyk victory was to avoid the clinches.
Deji, For his own sake, Fury should have clinched more.
You mean cheap shot held and wrestled more which is not boxing..
Exactly. Clinching and holding would have served Fury, by allowing him to rest, and by tiring Usyk by laying 300lb on him. Also, you can get in a cheap shot or elbow or laces in a clinch or on the break. That’s why it was crucial for Usyk to avoid the clinch
What a referee!!! Was a standing knock down allowed??? What a shame! Fortunately it didn’t hall corrupted brits…
The ropes can’t hold you up. The referee actually did an awful job, because Fury slopped into the rounds 3 different times. A lot of referees would have stopped it.
Fury never got warned for hanging on to the rope can’t do that
He did that so many times. It was infuriating. Even Ali used to get warned for doing that back in the day.
I called this fight as such;
“This fight will mirror Whitaker v. Vasquez, 1995. Height wise, abilities
[ and forecasting ] outcome.”
Post fight; Fury needed that humble pie, in misrepresenting The Christ, cheapening Boxiana Science and not respecting and learning said Science to improve.
Your comment is a joke.
Told you so.
Wow! Go Usyk!
That fight was much better than I thought it was going to be. Uysk’s now two time undisputed and olympic gold medalist, that’s an all time great resumé.
Great fight! I think scoring wise it could have gone either way but Usyk got the better of the fight if that makes any sense. It looked like Fury was going to use his size successfully like I thought he would but imo he took his foot of the gas and Usyk is not someone you can lose focus with. There were a lot of rounds that could have gone either way but Fury should not complain. He clowned too much and Usyk stayed focused throughout and in the end I think that made the difference is a razor thin close fight. Ref also could have stopped the fight. I have seen stoppages over much less. Both men showed great heart. Interesting to see if Fury is able to make adjustments in rematch.
Even if Fury hadn’t clowned, the result would have been the same. Usyk was setting a pace that nobody could maintain, certainly not Fury. Usyk’s cardio is insane. The say he swims for hours at a time for cardio
After what he came back from against Wilder, I think Fury is going to have to be COMPLETELY unconscious before a ref stops one of his fights.
Definitely close fight, I’d love to see a rematch. No problem with that at all!
great fight, terrible entertaintment, worst rap crap ever
Yeah, that rap was pretty bad. I wonder what the hell the poor Saudis made of that noise. WTF?
I always had Usyk as the winner, but I never imagined the fight would be that close. I think it is a shame to keep the titles frozen because of those insane rematch clauses instead of having the loser back on the line and letting the mandatory get their chance. So, at this pace, when will the winner of Hrgovic vs. Dubois or Cabayel have their opportunity in 2026 or 2027?
This fight deserves a rematch. Could have gone either way and either way it went both deserve their shot at redemption. This fight was way more entertaining than I expected.
Yes, the fight deserves a rematch, but this business of contracting a rematch 8 months later, and then a rubber match 8 months after that means that other contenders have to cool their heels for the next couple of years before they get a shot at the title.
Well the IBF is probably going to strip Usyk if he goes through with the rematch. I think Hrgovic – Dubois will probably be for the vacant belt.
If there’s a ‘bad guy’ in this? It’s Daryl Peoples and the IBF. Make it known that stripping Usyk is idiotic, and will do nothing more than relegate them to another Charles Martin era of “heavyweight champion.”
Agreed. At least give Usyk until, say, January to defend. Hrgovic isn’t even fighting until June, which means he’d only wait seven months. I can justify forcing him to take a mandatory against Hrgovic at some point… Hrgovic is a legit top 5 or 6 guy.. but allow at least a little grace.
Well that solves that,, Tyson Fury is silenced by a better boxer. IBF have said they won’t allow a rematch. We move on . Congratulations to Mr Usyk.
Undisputed champion!!
Usyk UNDISPUTED! Nearly a KO as I predicted as well. Well done Champ!
Can Fightnews.com make a thread where all of us that picked Usyk can get apologies from those who mocked us?
I wanted Usyk to win but thought that Fury would prevail because of his size and ability to place body shots.
The right guy won. I actually scored it 116 to 112. I tend to favor the aggressor in close rounds.
I have to wonder about the strategy for Fury backing up as much as he did. Pretty much anytime he came forward he was effective and yet, he continued to back away and let Usyk push the action. I bet they come in heavier for the rematch and come forward, possibly employing the dirtier tactics.
Last note: does anyone else think the referee Mark Nelson should retire? He was awful in this one. I felt like he should have warned Fury about the low blows and possibly taken a point if they persisted and he seemed unwilling to break them up when Fury held. Lastly, he should have called the knockdown much sooner. The ropes held Fury up at least 3 times. It’s not only a disservice to Usyk, but Fury as well. As we all know, 8 seconds is huge for Fury to recover and he could have avoided a bunch of shots.
The ref was sh*t. But the reason that Fury was forced to go backwards was because of the unrelenting pressure applied by Usyk. After the weigh-in, Usyk said to Fury: “Don’t be afraid. I won’t leave you alone”. Now we know exactly what he meant.
I applaud Usyk! I knew he would beat Fury by decision. Fury outweighed Usyk by nearly 40 lbs and had that height advantage, but as I sad before, he can’t knock out Usyk and can’t outbox him. If there is a rematch, Fury will add on more weight, then try to bully Usyk, but it won’t work. Usyk is simply too good. What a great day for the sport!
Fury did well in the middle rounds, he stopped going to Usy body and monkeying around too much.
The beginning of the end for Fury, the knockdown in the 9th, the busted nose.
Usyk executed flawlessly and kept his game plan, going forward, rapid combos
Great fight. I think fury can win a rematch. Needs to get in better shape. The 12 rds in this fight will help. Hoping usyk wins again but retiring would be fine. Always wanted to see Usyk vs Wilder.
It was a little weird of a fight, fury didn’t know when to strike or lay back
Rarely leaned on him and fought Usyks one big take away fury hit him with a huge upper cut and he ate it
The difference between the two of them is usyk does not get too high or too low and is stable and takes his craft serious physical health as well
Fun fight to watch I had the fight a split dec or 2 point win for usyk
Fury is such a plonker! That post fight interview was so on brand for that inflated ego that it was hard to watch. Aside from that, WHAT A PERFORMANCE BY USYK!!! Round 9 had me losing my s***! From the perspective of the fight, both men deserve props for a fantastic performance. Now, Usyk has Olympic gold, 2 division undisputed champ status, and a win against the boxing establishment (we all know they wanted Fury vs Joshua next). He could retire on that resume and be a f***ing legend. But jeez Fury, show more respect mate, you were flailing around the ring like a wounded rodeo clown, give Usyk his due mate! Still that fight should go down as one of the best in heavyweight history, wish I could have been ringside…
Stop crying about the ref. It’s a heavyweight title fight. I like Usyk but only fury haters are mad it wasn’t stopped. Nothing different than Gatti vs Ward Rd 9.
Round 9 of Gatti-Ward was to and fro all round. Round 9 of Fury-Usyk was a one-sided shellacking. Apart from that, yes, exactly the same??!!!!?!!!!! The referee would have stopped that if the smaller guy was on the receiving end…..
Gatti was getting punched from pillar to post, same as Fury.
Stop crying about the ref. It’s a heavyweight title fight. I like Usyk but only fury haters are mad it wasn’t stopped. Nothing different than Gatti taking punishment vs Ward in Rd 9 of their first fight.
Scooby-Doo has never picked a winner
To me the thing that caught my eye was right at the beginning, when the fighters took off their robes. When Usyx fought Dubois, all the British were using an excuse that his belt line was too high. But last night Fury`s was the highest i have ever seen , it was almost under his armpit. It was a good fight, and the right man won, but i would not say it was great. To me the ref made a huge blunder in the 9th. Fury was out of it but the ropes held him up. the ref. should have stopped the fight. that standing 8 count gave him time to recover. The excuses as usual have started running down the road. Good morning sleep time.
Are you fkn kidding me????
I did not see the fight because I was at work
But fury couldn’t beat usyk????
After having all the advantages
-size
-height
-speed
Etc
And fury couldn’t beat usyk????
Waooooooo
Usyk: welcome to my list of top 10 greatest boxers of all times
Last week I took my hat off with inoue now I take it off with you
Great!!!!!!!
Ttyl guys because santillan VS Norman Jr is about to start and that’s the fight I care more today
There was no anticlimax but a boxing match.
And I’m very happy that it was Usyk who came out victorious from that fight.
Fury was completely gone by the end of round 9. But I think the referee acted correctly in taking a count on Fury as only the ropes kept him from crashing.
Usyk’s Achilles heel is the body that Dubios exposed and also Fury in this fight. Maybe a boxer like Kabayel is not Usyk’s cup of tea?
Maybe Usyk and Inoue should share first place as p4p today?
I’m impressed!
A big congratulations and hats off!
So, if only ropes kept him (which is not the case anyway), the ref should has been stop the fight with TKO, like in the famous fight Corrales vz Castillo?
The basic pro rule is: “NO STANDING KNOCKDOWN”
No standing knockdown is correct.
But,
if the rope is the only thing that holds you up when you’re battered and hurt it is seen as a knockdown. Therefore a “standing” count.
The ref could of course stop a fight on such occasion, if you’re badly hurt, as in Corralez vs Castillo. The ref can wave the fight off without counting if your not able to continue, that holds all time, with or without knockdown.
Fury was lucky Usyk didn’t find the target 30 seconds earlier. I doubt Fury would have survived.
So, if only ropes kept him (which is not the case anyway), the ref should had been stop the fight with TKO, like in the famous fight Corrales vz Castillo?
The basic pro rule is: “NO STANDING KNOCKDOWN”
So, if only ropes kept him (which is not the case anyway), the ref should had been stop the fight with TKO, like in the famous fight Corrales vz Castillo? Especially that Furry neither protected himself nor punched back…
The basic pro rule is: “NO STANDING KNOCKDOWN”
Play silly games win silly prizes.
A broken jaw is still a better win than a loss. However, if you refer to the Fury clowning then yes thats a stupid price to win. In the end, Usyk wanted it more just like the Ukrainans do on the battlefield against the orcs who is bigger and more powerful. In competition, the motivation to win is key its not always about size.
Just for Fun Usyk Vs Fury Who Won? Usyk did Son! Why U Rhyme? Cause its Usyk Time….
Fury said afterwards Usyk got the win because of the global sympathy towards him!!! Rubbish; it was close enough to go either way. I had it 115-112 to Usyk with many razor-tight rounds. Fury was lucky he wasn’t stopped in that ninth round though so who was given a favour??!! If that was Fury battering Usyk, the referee would have stopped it…..
When Fury´s father headbutted one of Team Usyk I saw this as a bad omen and put all money on Usyk from there.
In the end Usyk wanted to win more than Fury, even if it meant a broken jaw and taking insane body shots.
Its not always about size guys. Usyk is quick and can adapt as the fight goes. Fury is good but not as good as we all thought he were. Still the second best fighter of his generation at worst, not bad.
He will get another shot in the rematch, if he wins we may have a third fight. However I think Usyk wins the second one too. Time will tell. Hats off to both warriors, theyre both good men and great athletes.
Good fight, however Im sure all noticed a low quality referee in there too. Usually those types can be SPOILERS of great magnitude. The fight should have been a TKO/KO in round 9 nine times out of ten. Usyk needed only one more blow to finish Fury off, however the referee either confused Usyk by waiving the fight over or simply got in his way so he couldnt land the finishing blow. And then saved Fury again with a 10-count. Very bad referee.
Told you when Fury cannot bully a fighter because of his skills like Usyk or his strenght like N’gannou he loses.. And yet he is crying he won altough the ref helped him to finish the fight on his feets..
I want to make a comment on the ref who is being unfairly maligned.
When the ropes are the only thing holding a person up after being hit, it’s a knockdown. Said another way if a person is going down from a punch the ref has to imagine the ropes are not there and assess the outcome. There were a couple times before one could argue the ref could have called the knockdown. However, he didn’t want to interrupt the action until it was very clear (and the last plunge into the ropes was quite clear). He had to call a knockdown at that point (btw this also was the difference in the decision. Had Fury made it out of the round without being knocked down, the fight is a draw provided the judges score it 10-9, which is customary). Also had he called a knockdown earlier, it’s the same result because there was little time left in the round.
Insofar as him not stopping the fight, he made the right call. The proof is that the fight went all 12 and resulted in a close, but correct decision.
When you have a fight like this at the highest stakes at the highest level of skill, you don’t want a ref inserting himself too much to muck it up. That’s what amateur refs do. Actually most of the European refs are far more amateurish as they insert themselves too much and will often utter commands without inserting their body into the fray (that’s how Cordina got hit on the break… I’m not blaming the ref for the loss… Cordina could have taken 5 minutes and decided not to). Yes it’s riskier, and I think the more amateurish refs are well-intentioned, but Mark Nelson is a seasoned professional, and the people trashing him are only showing their lack of knowledge of the game.
He let them fight, there were some low blows but no egregious fouls. No points should have been taken.
The result… we got an awesome high level undisputed heavyweight title fight out of it. What more do you want (ignoring your bias of course)?
I was left with an unsatisfied feeling this fight did not excite me as I thought it would Fury had it in the bag but as it’s acostume he gets caught and hurt and then eventually get right back on track
Usyk did not at all impress me not one bit
He did start throwing nothing but haymakers and one eventually landed and rocked Fury but that was it, then again it’s boxing and that’s all you need to do sometimes
I do think that the Ref robbed Usyk of a KO win though
But since the fight was not stopped in the end I think Fury did enough to win the fight
One great round by Usyk does not mean he controlled the rest of the match
Also did noticed Usyk is not a fan of getting hot to the body, confirmed
First, hats off to both Fury and Usyk. Great fight. The tide turned several time throughout. Both guys landed some serious shots. The exchanges were good and both fighters executed their game plan.
I had picked Fury to win based on the old addage “a good big man beats a good little man”, but I wanted Usyk to win. That changed when I saw Fury’s picture a few days ago and saw how light he was coming in and realized why he was doing it. I had picked Usyk by possible TKO late. However, I was not confident enough to bet the farm on it.
1 &2 for Usyk, 3,4,5,6(big), 7th & 11 for Fury, with 8,9(huge) 10, &12 for Usyk. Close, but the right man won.
Not sure that there will be a rematch. Usyk and Fury are on that side of 35 and I doubt they will be fighting the rest of the year. One of these 2 might retire before theynrun it back. What is left for Usyk to prove? He accomplished his goal and worked hard for it. Fury still has AJ on his radar and he can get motivated for it, but the longer he waits, the more his recovery between combos will take.
Finally, after 30+ years, I can hear the words “the Undefeated, Undisputed, heavyweight champion of the worrrrrrld…..”
The referee robbed Usyk of a knockout-His decision to give the Gipsy a count was absurd-He should either stopped the fight or let Usyk achieve his knockout-The ref should be pulled up on this because he interjected himself to stop a well earned knockout by Mr Usyk
The referee robbed Usyk of a knockout-His decision to give the Gipsy a count was absurd-He should either have stopped the fight or let Usyk achieve his knockout-The ref should be pulled up on this because he interjected himself to stop a well earned knockout by Mr Usyk
Rewatched it today…
114-113 for Usyk was the right score
Usyk the weakest heavyweight ever no punching power whatsoever
Off course, Fury could proff that after the round 9th:)))
Off course, Fury could proof that after the round 9th:)))