Oleksandr Usyk became the undisputed heavyweight champion after a dramatic fight, perhaps the best of the year so far, in which he defeated Tyson Fury by split decision during the Riyadh Season event in this Saudi Arabian city.
The World Boxing Association (WBA) super champion, who also owned the IBF and WBO belts, added the WBC belt to his collection after scoring 115-112, 113-114 and 114-113 scorecards after 12 rounds of action and excitement.
The Ukrainian started the fight always going forward and trying to close the distance with a much taller Fury who was moving around the ring taking advantage of his reach. Although the initial rounds he was able to put them in his favor, Usyk’s difficulty to reach the Briton was noticeable and as the rounds progressed he was quite uncomfortable.
Fury began to work well to the body and did a lot of damage with the upper to Usyk’s face on several occasions. However, the southpaw fighter remained constant, insisting and following his fight plan.
After the seventh round Usyk began to grow and was managing to catch Fury on the ropes in several passages. The eighth round was key as he connected with punches that seemed to really affect Fury and his mobility and then in the ninth he really hurt him and got a knockdown that tipped the scales in his favor.
From that point on, Usyk remained in control of the fight, attacked Fury with everything he had and took the final rounds to win a close victory on the scorecards in a historic fight.
Usyk became the first undisputed champion of the division in 25 years since Lennox Lewis. His record now stands at 22 wins, no losses and 14 knockouts, while Fury lost his undefeated record and now has 34 wins, 1 loss and 1 draw.
