Oleksandr Usyk’s greatness extended into new territory after he became a two-weight undisputed world champion on Saturday night.
Usyk inflicted the first defeat of Tyson Fury’s professional career with a split-decision victory in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It was an exhibition of intelligent, in-fight adjustments and a reminder, if one was needed, that Usyk defies heavyweight conventions.
The Ukrainian, in six heavyweight fights, has collected all four belts. Having stepped up from cruiserweight in 2019 where he became the division’s undisputed champion, Usyk has banished the notion he was too small or was a big man at a lower weight who would fear mixing it with giants.
Usyk gave away 40 pounds before the fight, despite tipping the scales at a career-high 223.5 pounds. Fury came in at his lightest in five years but still weighed in much heavier at 262 pounds.
Usyk had a six-inch disadvantage over Fury, who centred a key part of his gameplan on keeping the fight at range, but Usyk engineered a victory by doing what he always does — making all physical inferiority futile.
Usyk, 37, has beaten Anthony Joshua twice to win the IBF, WBA and WBO titles and, after taking down Fury, has claimed the WBC belt, too. He is the first heavyweight since Lennox Lewis beat Evander Holyfield 25 years ago to become the undisputed heavyweight world champion.
Usyk insists winning 2012 Olympic gold is the apex of his career — and crowned a stellar time as an amateur — but what transpired in Riyadh will likely prove his legacy-defining win.
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The Ukranian has elevated himself into the pantheon of all-time greats. All of his championship wins across the two divisions have been away from home, often on enemy territory and against the backdrop of adversity; against home-city favourites and ostensibly intimidating atmospheres. Fighting Fury, an expert in the psychological dark arts and throwing opponents off-kilter, in Saudi Arabia would have been one of Usyk’s less imposing expeditions.
Between two high-level thinkers inside the ring, the fight would invariably carry an ebb and flow throughout, with whoever could make the more effective adjustments being decisive. Usyk, having pressed from the outset, found himself walking onto Fury’s double feints and backhand punches. He needed to turn the tide.
Fury was dominant by the midway point, settling into a rhythm on the back foot and making his seven-inch reach advantage count. The 35-year-old hurt Usyk in the sixth round with a sharp right uppercut and had success in targeting the body, a perceived weakness of the Ukrainian who had been floored by a low blow in his previous fight against Daniel Dubois and was dropped in the amateurs by current unified light-heavyweight champion, Artur Beterbiev.
Usyk’s usual spring was missing. He complained about low blows and stopped throwing punches with Fury, a sign the damage being returned was having an effect. Afterwards, Usyk would head for the nearby hospital with a suspected broken jaw.
Yet, as he did successfully in the rematch against Joshua, Usyk made adjustments to halt the momentum. He jabbed low to Fury’s midriff, re-calibrating his straight left hand from the southpaw stance and put hesitation in Fury to come forward and impose his strength and size on Usyk.
The former cruiserweight landed a telling left hand and a right hook in the eighth, opening up a cut under Fury’s right eye. It signalled another shift in impetus and in the following round, Uysk produced the fight’s determining moment, delivering a punishing straight left as Fury pulled backwards.
Fury has been on several occasions throughout his career but never to the point where his legs betrayed him quite so clearly, staggering around the ring and only being kept up by the ropes.
Referee Mark Nelson gave Fury a standing count, with the bell for the end of the round saving the Brit from a further Usyk onslaught. By this point, Uysk had wrestled the authority and would not relinquish it. He continued applying measured, front-foot pressure and Fury, despite leaning on his miraculous powers of recovery, was outworked.
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Usyk changed levels, delivered sharp left hands and put pressure on Fury through his trademark footwork, closing the distance. Usyk did not fight like “the little man” Fury had described him as in the build-up, but like a champion who has outmanoeuvred and beaten every fighter in his way.
Usyk edged out Fury, winning on the judges scorecards: 115-112, 113-114 and 114-13. The loser retained the option of a rematch clause and Fury, speaking in the ring after, confirmed he wants to activate a second bout, which is scheduled for October.
Winning boxing’s greatest prize and one the most eminent titles in sport deserves its seminal moment. Usyk was already an all-time great at cruiserweight but will now be regarded among the best to have ever boxed, at any weight and in any era.
(Top photo: Richard Pelham/Getty Images)