Oleksandr Usyk emerged as the world’s undisputed heavyweight boxing champion adter defeating Tyson Fury.
On Saturday night, Fury and Usyk engaged in combat at the Kingdom Arena located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Usyk defeated the British fighter 115-112, 113-114, and 114-113 on the scorecards to win the fight by split decision.
In the first several rounds of the battle, Fury came out swinging, but Usyk was able to withstand the British fighter’s assault.
As the battle went on, the Ukrainian gained momentum because of his excellent movement and technical proficiency, which allowed him to block Fury’s strong attacks and land accurate shots of his own.
The highly anticipated battle took a turn for the better when the Ukrainian stopped Fury in the ninth round.
Despite Fury’s valiant effort to recover in the final rounds, Usyk’s dominance had already sealed the victory.
The 37-year-old Ukrainian is the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the world since Lennox Lewis 25 years ago. He has now unified the WBA, WBO, IBF, and WBC titles.
For Fury, it is the first loss in his 16-year professional career, but he will have a chance at a rematch before the end of the year.
In his post-fight interview, the British boxer accused the judges of giving the victory to Usyk because of the war in Ukraine.
“His country is at war, so people are siding with the country at war,” he said.
