Oleksandr Usyk is the first four-belt undisputed heavyweight champion with a victory against Tyson Fury. The Ukrainian southpaw defeated the British star in the main event live from Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, May 18.
The highly anticipated contest saw a blockbuster showdown. At the end of the ninth round Usyk was on edge to stop Fury, but the latter was saved the by the bell.
After 12 rounds, one judge scored the fight 114-113 in favor of Fury, while two other judges had 115-112 and 114-113 for Usyk.
As a result, with the victory by split decision, Oleksandr Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) retained his WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight belts and claimed the WBC strap held by Fury. The 37-year-old of Simferopol, Crimea, Ukraine, who previously collected all titles at cruiserweight, became a two-division undisputed champion.
Oleksandr Usyk also became the first undisputed heavyweight champion in almost 25 years. Lennox Lewis was the man to unify three major belts at that time (WBC, WBA and IBF) with the victory against Evander Holyfield in 1999.
Tyson Fury lost his WBC title and didn’t succeed to get on the very top of the heavyweight division. The 35-year-old dropped to 33-1-1, 24 KOs and suffered his first career defeat. The Manchester, England native said he believed he had won the fight.
With a rematch clause in their contracts, Usyk and Fury are now potentially set to square off for the second time. The date is expected to land on the boxing schedule in the coming weeks.
