The biggest heavyweight boxing event in over 20 years took place on May 18 in Saudi Arabia, when undefeated titans, Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk put their titles on the line for the chance to become the undisputed champion of the heavyweight division.
The fight lived up to the hype, both guys showed their championship pedigree with each man having their moments in the ring.
Usyk who was the betting underdog and the smaller man, was walking Fury down from beginning to end. It was shocking to see the smaller southpaw and former cruiserweight being able to make Fury back away with every step forward.
The biggest moment of the fight happened in round 9 when Usyk was able to rock Fury with a left hand and continued to attack a wobbled and dazed Fury. The ropes kept holding up Fury as he was falling all over the ring, until he was finally dropped. Many ringside observers thought the fight would be finished and waved off by the referee but Fury was able to survive and made it to the bell.
The rest of the fight was all Usyk with Fury trying to sneak in combos off the back foot, it was a very competitive and hard fight for both. When the bell sounded, the two combatants hugged and the judges scored it a split decision with (115-112, 113-114, 114-113) with one judge in favor of Fury and two scoring it for Usyk.
Usyk made history by becoming a two-division undisputed champion, and the first heavyweight to hold all four sanctioning belts the WBC, WBA, WBO, and IBF in the four belt era. The last undisputed king in the division was Lennox Lewis in 1999.
The immediate rematch clause is active and both fighters will need a long rest after such a grueling battle before they even think about stepping back into the ring again.
Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk Full Ring of Fire Card Highlights
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Muki is a long time boxing fan and enjoys Mixed Martial Arts. He has been writing boxing articles since he was a teen and his favorite fighters of the past are Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Prince Naseem Hamed. Favorite MMA fighters are Khabib Nurmagomedov, Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva and Fedor Emelianenko.