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05/18 19:10 CDT Oleksandr Usyk beats Tyson Fury by split decision to become the
undisputed heavyweight champion
Oleksandr Usyk beats Tyson Fury by split decision to become the undisputed
heavyweight champion
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) --- Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury by split
decision on Sunday to become the first undisputed heavyweight boxing champion
in 24 years.
Usyk (22-0) added Fury's WBC title to his own WBA, IBF and IBO belts with a
spectacular late rally highlighted by a ninth-round knockdown in a
back-and-forth bout between two previously unbeaten heavyweight champs. Two
judges favored Usyk, 115-112 and 114-113, while the third gave it to Fury,
114-113.
"It's a great time. It's a great day," Usyk said.
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.
"Thank you so much to my team," Usyk said while fighting back tears in the
ring. "It's a big opportunity for me, for my family, for my country. Slava
Ukraini!"
Fury kissed Usyk on the head after the final bell. Fury also said he wants the
rematch in October.
"I believe I won that fight," Fury said. "I believe he won a few of the rounds,
but I won the majority of them, and I believe it was one of those
what-can-you-do, one of them ... decisions in boxing. We both put on a good
fight, best we can do.
"You know, his country is at war, so people are siding with a country at war.
But make no mistake, I won that fight, in my opinion, and I'll be back. I've
got a rematch clause."
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.
Usyk is 6 inches shorter than the 6-foot-9 Fury, and he weighed in 30 pounds
lighter than the hulking British star this week. The size difference didn't
matter to Usyk, who has used his athleticism and skill to counter every
challenge he has faced since moving up from cruiserweight to heavyweight in
2019.
Usyk landed 41% of his 407 punches, while Fury landed just 31.7% of his 496
punches, according to CompuBox statistics. Usyk both threw (260 to 210) and
landed (122 to 95) more power punches.
Usyk upset Anthony Joshua to win three title belts in 2021, and he kept them
through two defenses while angling for the ultimate payday of a fight against
Fury in Saudi Arabia.
Usyk has now joined the elite club of fighters who held every major world
championship belt at heavyweight --- and he is the first to do it in the
four-belt era, which began in 2007. The list of undisputed champions includes
Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Floyd Patterson, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and Mike
Tyson.
The most recent undisputed heavyweight champ was Lewis, who beat Evander
Holyfield in late 1999 and enjoyed a five-month reign. He soon lost a title
because of the territorial squabbles that have beset boxing for the past
quarter-century and routinely prevented the biggest fights from happening.
Fury and Usyk both asked for this matchup, and they finally got together in the
ring largely because of the involvement of Saudi Arabia, which made the
financial rewards simply too great for the fighters' typically recalcitrant
promoters and the sanctioning bodies to reject. Fury will reportedly make more
than $100 million for the bout.
To reach the lucrative Western pay-per-view audience, the bout didn't begin
until 1:45 a.m. on Sunday morning at Kingdom Arena.
___
AP boxing: https://apnews.com/boxing
