On Saturday night, December 21st at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, undefeated WBO, WBA, WBC, World Heavyweight Champion Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson “The Gypsy King” Fury for the second time to cement his place as pound-for-pound king, and the best heavyweight of this era.
Tyson Fury came into the rematch well prepared as he was focused on executing his game plan. Fury started the fight with an adjustment he made from the first fight, but despite the adjustment, at the end of the contest, Usyk was again declared the winner.
Oleksandr Usyk won his first world title back in September 2016 when he defeated Krzysztof Glowacki via unanimous decision to win the WBO cruiserweight title. Two years later, Usyk became an overall champion when he beat Mairis Briedis to win the WBC strap.
Usyk would go on to make history by defeating Murat Gassiev and collect the WBA and IBF world titles. With the victory, Oleksandr Usyk became the first undisputed cruiserweight champion of the four-belt era. Usyk also became the first cruiserweight to go uncontested since Evander Holyfield did it 30 years earlier, back in 1988.
While Usyk dominated the cruiserweight division, a trio of boxers jockeyed for position as boxing fans tried to figure out who would become king of the heavyweights. Tyson Fury was the boxer, Anthony Joshua was the popular boxer-puncher and Deontay Wilder was known as the knockout artist.
Fury and Wilder were due to face each other in December 2018 when the entertaining fight ended in a split decision draw. Back in February 2020, Fury won the rematch and it looked like he was ready to break away and become the top heavyweight. But a year later, a wild card made its formal introduction to the division.
On September 25, 2021, Oleksandr Usyk made a statement when he defeated the face of the heavyweight division, Anthony Joshua, by unanimous decision to win the WBA, IBF and WBO titles. Joshua was better prepared for the second fight, but he came up short again as Usyk won the rematch via split decision.
Usyk went on to fight Daniel Dubois and he stopped him in the 9th round. Next on Usyk’s agenda was the chance to make history when he stepped into the ring in May 2024 to face undefeated WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
Usyk was the aggressor as he forced Fury to fight off the back foot. At the end of the 12-round contest, Oleksandr Usyk won by split decision. With the win over Fury, Oleksandr Usyk made history by becoming the third male boxer to go uncontested in two weight classes.
Seven months later, the long-awaited rematch took place. Early in the fight, Fury showed an adjustment as he pushed forward and was the aggressor. But as the fight wore on, the southpaw Usyk was able to reclaim the role of the aggressor as he pressed forward and consistently landed hard left shots.
When the fight ended, Oleksandr Usyk was again declared the winner as all three judges scored the fight 116-112 in favor of Usyk. With the victory, Usyk beat both Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury twice.
With the four combined wins against Joshua and Fury, and the win over Daniel Dubois, Oleksandr Usyk has proven that he is the current number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world and the best heavyweight of this era.
With the combination of his boxing skills, footwork, timing, punch placement and ring intelligence, unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) is a matchup nightmare.
37-year-old Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk has officially captured the heavyweight division, and now the question is, will he stay in the heavyweight division or return to the cruiserweight division?