Tyson Fury spent a decade and a half and 35 professional fights without suffering defeat, he has now lost back-to-back fights to Oleksandr Usyk. The native of Ukraine won their fantastic, high-pace second fight by unanimous decision on Saturday in Saudi Arabia.
Momentum swung wildly for the first half of the bout, with Fury landing hard jabs and occasional right hands while Usyk focused his attack on Fury’s body. Despite Fury weighing in at more than 280 pounds for the fight, the constant Usyk body attack never fully slowed Fury down.
What did turn the tables was Usyk’s left hand from his southpaw stance. That shot landed with increased frequency as the fight wore on and led to Fury backing into the ropes more often in the second half of the fight.
Usyk was also brilliantly sharp with his punch selection, landing 179 of 423 punches to 144 of 509 for Fury.
At the conclusion of 12 rounds, the ringside judges turned in identical scores of 116-112, though they did not have consensus on which rounds each man won, something Fury promoter Frank Warren took issue with while claiming his fighter deserved the nod.
Both fights between Usyk and Fury are in the Fight of the Year discussion for 2024.
“He’s a great fighter and a great opponent,” Usyk said after the fight. “It’s a great fight for 24 rounds, unbelievable 24 rounds in my career.”
Asked about what’s next in his career, Usyk delivered a line in broken English in his classic deadpan style.
“I can more,” Usyk said.
CBS Sports was with you throughout the entire way on Saturday with live updates, scores and analysis. Thanks for stopping by.
Fight card, results
- Oleksandr Usyk (c) def. Tyson Fury via unanimous decision (116-112, 116-112, 116-112)
- Moses Itauma def. Demsey McKean via first-round KO
- Serhii Bohachuk def. Ismael Davis via sixth-round TKO
- Johnny Fisher def. Dave Allen via split decision (95-94, 93-96, 95-94)
- Lee McGregor def. Isaac Lowe via unanimous decision (96-92, 97-91, 97-91)
- Peter McGrail def. Rhys Edwards (96-95, 96-94, 96-94)
Usyk vs. Fury scorecard, live coverage
| Usyk (c) | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 116 |
| Fury | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 112 |