The history books were already open before Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk even stepped into the ring. Both were undefeated as heavyweight world champions before the fight on Saturday night. For the first time in decades, all the important titles of the major boxing associations were at stake. So a king was to be crowned in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. And, you can say this much, the fight lived up to the hype that was created around it in advance. It was an encounter for the history books.
Anyone who expected that the larger, heavier Fury would simply lean on the smaller Usyk was immediately surprised. Fury moved a lot, went around the opponent, easily hit his left hand from his hip. He obviously wanted to put on a good, if not nice, fight against his best opponent so far. But Usyk attacked, pressed, got past Fury’s left and hit the big man, against whom he looked downright petite, despite his 1.91 meters. The smaller man made the fight, as they say in boxing. That was unexpected, to say the least. So he won the first three rounds.
The crowd in the hall was mainly cheering for Fury; the English battle fans had come in large numbers. The Ukrainians currently have other things to worry about than cheering for a boxer. After all, Wladimir Klitschko was there, who once lost his title to Tyson Fury, who then ushered in a new era in the heavyweight division, which reached its climax that night. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is currently trying to polish its image with major boxing matches. Not only are there champions in the ring, there are also some who are flown in who have already secured their places in the history books.
In addition to Klitschko, a number of other former world champions were present, including Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis, now with a white beard. The two were the last heavyweights to date to deliver a similarly high-class fight for all major titles. That was in Las Vegas in 1999. A while ago. And they got a battle that was worth the journey.
Fury takes the fight from the fourth round onwards
Because Tyson Fury took the fight from the fourth round. He still didn’t cling or block, instead he hit more often, with more variety, and hit better. That was also unexpected. Because Usyk is considered an unusually fast and clever boxer who rarely makes a mistake twice. He increasingly had to pay for his constant attacks with counterattacks, especially Fury’s short, straight right which kept coming through. In a fight between two such good fighters, it’s always about who can read the other better, as they say in boxing. Anyone who has one more idea.
In the coming rounds it was Tyson Fury who was the decisive step faster and had the better end of an exchange of blows. Usyk became a little less precise. Rounds four, five, six and seven went to Fury. Oleksandr Usyk continued to press, but seemed a bit at a loss at this stage. Usually he not only has a plan B, but also a plan C or D up his sleeve. Former world champion Anthony Joshua, who was also sitting at the ring in Riyadh and is also taller and heavier than Usyk, had to learn this the hard way in two fights. Now he could see from the outside how this happened.
From the eighth round onwards, Usyk kept changing the direction in which he went around Fury. He changed punch angles and varied combinations. Fury continued to hit him frequently, especially to the body, occasionally too deep. But Usyk began to get through with his flat left hand – the harder hit for a left-handed player like him.
The larger man hadn’t wanted the fight
The bigger man hadn’t wanted the fight because he would always look stupid against the smaller man, no matter what the outcome. Even Goliath wouldn’t have cut a good figure as a winner. But the way the two boxed, size was suddenly no longer an issue, at least not the physical one. The two did what you’d hope two world champions would do: they made each other bigger.
Tyson Fury began to bleed alarmingly from his nose and develop a massive bruise where Usyk’s left hit him. Above all as an overhand, i.e. hit in the forward movement over the attacker’s lead hand, the effect of this blow is doubled. So by the ninth round, Oleksandr Usyk had apparently found Plan E and read Fury in turn. He kept firing his hard left into the space Fury left him and began to hurt the big man. Fury’s nose was bleeding badly.
When the nose swells, breathing becomes difficult and one has to keep the mouth open, which makes the chin more sensitive to impact. And Usyk was hitting that chin a lot now. Also with left-right combinations. So often that Tyson Fury could no longer flexibly avoid the punches and suddenly staggered through the ring, badly injured. Usyk followed up and hit Fury hard twice more when he was already injured.
The whole drama that the history books require in order for the entry to be impressive unfolded. Tyson Fury, who is known from three fights against Deontay Wilder to be able to recover from even devastating knockouts, swayed from ring rope to ring rope in the 9th round like a wrestler playing a hit. It was almost touching to see how his body refused to go down even though his mind was shut down. First he was saved by the referee, who didn’t take him out of the fight directly, but counted him out. And then the gong came at the end of the 9th round.
Both boxers like and respect each other
At this point, the shouts of “Usyk” had become loud in the hall, the spectators were standing and fans were probably jumping out of their seats in sports bars and private households around the world. Both the fans of Usyk and those of Fury, perhaps some were even in each other’s arms. After all, both are not only exceptional boxers, but also exceptional characters that only this special profession can produce. You could even hear that they like and respect each other through the insults that Tyson Fury has for each of his opponents before a fight. Both are also very religious, which is surprisingly common in boxing. It has a lot to do with faith when you dare to get into the ring with a boxer at this level. Above all, with unshakable belief in yourself. And that was probably what mattered in the final rounds: who believed in themselves more.
So the champions went into the tenth round. Tyson Fury recovered, just as he always seems to recover in an almost eerie way. And Usyk was smart enough not to blindly go after him and risk a knockout himself. Both continued to box at the highest level, even in the last two rounds, which looked like the first rounds with other heavyweights, as both were still so agile and powerful. Everything seemed to be possible at every second, so it remained very exciting until the end.
Then one of the best heavyweight fighters in history was over. The victory on points went narrowly, but rightly, to Oleksandr Usyk, who is now the first undisputed world champion since Lennox Lewis. Tyson Fury saw the sensation differently immediately after the fight, but when he sees the footage he will probably change his mind. At least he planted a kiss on Usyk’s head from above and said, “well done!” The winner cried in the ring and shouted “Slava Ukraini!” into the hall, “long live Ukraine”. There was no real loser. Just two kings who want to compete a second time this year. For the history books.