Usyk cements place among greats with repeat over Fury
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia—Oleksandr Usyk won his heavyweight championship rematch against Tyson Fury by unanimous decision overnight on Saturday to stay unbeaten across two divisions and cement his place among the greats.
The Ukrainian, who forced the pace and repeatedly tagged Fury with his accurate left hook, was awarded the fight, 116-112, by all three judges, handing Fury his second straight loss.
Usyk’s win takes him to 23-0 with 14 knockouts and extends one of the all-time best careers that includes Olympic gold and undisputed champion at cruiserweight.
“He’s a great fighter, it’s a great performance,” Usyk, 37, said of Fury, who was unbeaten over 35 fights until he lost their four-belt unification bout in May.
“Unbelievable 24 rounds for my career.”
Only the WBA, WBO and WBC belts were on the line this time after Usyk, focused on the lucrative rematch, relinquished his IBF title rather than face challenger Daniel Dubois.
By beating Fury seven months ago, “The Cat” had already joined the likes of Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis and Mike Tyson as undisputed heavyweight, and the first of the four-belt era.
The defeat opens up an uncertain future for the 36-year-old Fury, now 34-2-1, who announced his retirement in 2022 only to change his mind and return to the ring.
“I thought I’ve won both fights, but then again I’ve got two losses on my record now, so there’s not much I can do about it,” said the Briton, sporting a bruised right eye as he appeared before media.
“I can just fight me heart out and do the best I can. But I’ll always believe until the day I die that I won that fight.” AFP
Reports put the prize purse at an increased $190 million with Usyk, as defending champion, expected to receive the bigger share — a reversal of fortunes from May.
The fight sits high in the portfolio of Saudi Arabia’s oil-funded push into sports, which has drawn accusations of “sportswashing” its dubious human rights record.
