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 to remain WBO, WBA and WBC world champion..
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. This was similar to their first meeting in May, when Fury fought brilliantly early before Usyk took the fight over, including scoring a knockdown in Round 9 of that bout.
Fury didn’t suffer a knockdown in the rematch, but did struggle to keep up with Usyk’s pace and pressure.
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 and the Fury that showed up on Saturday night would likely defeat every heavyweight on the planet not named Oleksandr Usyk.
“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.” Â
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.
Usyk’s post-fight interview was interrupted by IBF champion Daniel Dubois. Usyk defeated Dubois by knockout in 2023 and it was Dubois who picked up the IBF title after Usyk was stripped by the sanctioning body for going ahead with his contractually obligated rematch with Fury.
“I want my revenge,” Dubois said as he grabbed the microphone. “I want my revenge, Usyk. Well done tonight. I want my revenge.”
Usyk said he was willing to go through with the rematch, telling Turki Alalshikh to make the fight.
Should that fight materialize — Dubois is scheduled to defend his title against Joseph Parker on Feb. 22 — Usyk would have a chance to become a two-time undisputed heavyweight champion. He moved to the heavyweight division in 2019 after a cruiserweight career that saw him go undisputed at that weight.
The undercard saw a pair of rising prospects pick up vicious knockouts and improve their resumes. Moses Itauma, the teenage heavyweight phenom, took care of veteran Demsey McKean in brutal fashion, scoring a first-round knockout. Junior middleweight Serhii Bohachuk managed to do the same in a showdown with Ismael Davis after some incredible back-and-forth action before the fight was called off in the sixth round. Bohachuk was originally scheduled to face Israil Madrimov, but Madrimov withdrew from the fight just weeks out after coming down with bronchitis.
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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 KOÂ
- 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 |