Oleksandr Usyk secured his place among heavyweight boxing's all-time heroes with another enthralling win over his similarly magnificent rival Tyson Fury.
Seven months after claiming undisputed status, as he did at cruiserweight, Usyk retained his WBC, WBA, WBO, and Ring titles by margins of 116-112 on all three judges' scorecards.
There was no moment of high drama such as round nine in the first encounter, when Usyk sent Fury tottering around the ring and scored a knockdown. But the two elite operators of their era served up another pugilistic treat of brains and brawn over 36 absorbing minutes.
Fury was better this time, locked in and laser-focused, but he was tangling with a man who bears comparison to the very best heavyweights of all time. Oleksandr Usyk truly is something else. Fury and Anthony Joshua were supposed to loom over the history pages of this era. Usyk has shared 48 rounds with the two British stars and beaten and beguiled them both.
𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐋𝐋.
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) December 21, 2024
Usyk defeats Tyson Fury via unanimous decision and retains his WBA, WBC and WBO world heavyweight titles 🏆#Usyk2Fury | #RiyadhSeason | @Turki_alalshikh pic.twitter.com/t3bxBnUurx
WATCH: Usyk vs. Fury 2 live and on-demand on DAZN
Usyk vs. Fury 2 fight card
- Oleksandr Usyk (c) def. Tyson Fury to retain the WBA, WBC, WBO, and Ring heavyweight titles
- Serhii Bohachuk def. Ishmael Davis (TKO 6/12); Super Welterweights
- Moses Itauma def. Demsey McKean (TKO 1/10); Heavyweights
- Johnny Fisher def. Dave Allen (SD 10); Heavyweights
- Peter McGrail def. Rhys Edwards (UD 10); Super Featherweight
- Lee McGregor def. Isaac Lowe (UD 10); Featherweights
- Daniel Lapin def. Dylan Colin (UD 10); Light Heavyweights
- Andrii Novytskyi def. Edgar Ramirez (UD 10); Heavyweights
MORE: Usyk vs. Fury 2 as it happened
During the build-up Fury claimed he had not spoken to his wife Paris for three months as he underwent spartan preparations in Malta. He ringwalked looking furiously focused beneath a much-discussed beard at the same time as singing along to Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas Is You. A man of contradictions and the unexpected had effectively arrived as a menacing Father Christmas for his date with destiny.
Usyk, again in an approximation of traditional Ukrainian warrior dress, was all business. Different approaches from two compelling champions but a shared ferocity. Even as the obligation of three national anthems was fulfilled, Fury's clowning and kidology from the first fight felt like an indulgence never to be revisited.
Fury looked to get on the front foot in round one/round 13, pumping out the jab from an orthodox stance. Usyk was looking to bring his backhand to the challenger's ample body into play. A fast pace opened up as they approached the two-minute mark and traded right hands. Fury got the better of that exchange but then had a reminder of the crisp Usyk left that caused him to unravel last time.
He wore this one well, with far more in the tank even if there was already a sense that such a sharp tempo would suit the champion. Usyk's southpaw left was the dominant feature of round two before Fury landed a clipping right to the temple off the jab during the closing seconds.
Fury had success from left jabs and hooks early in round three, with Usyk's complaint about shots to the back of the head an obvious moment of encouragement. The sight of blood trickling from the Ukrainian nose was another. The response from Usyk was typically high-quality and he scored brilliantly to the body for the first half of the fourth before briefly buckling Fury with an overhand left. "The Gypsy King" bit down on his gumshield and fired back.
Mark Robinson/ Matchroom Boxing
A beautifully timed right lead from Usyk preceded a warning for Fury for hitting behind the head in round five, when it was the champion's turn to be wobbled. Once more he hit back to the body but Fury had settled into a nice rhythm that allowed him to chop to the Usyk body with repeated right hooks. A buzzing left received just before the bell did not stop it being Fury's best round to date.
Usyk had his breath back for a round six clinic, peppering to body and head with a mastery of angles before clattering his best left of the night into Fury's right eye socket, which needed attention from the iron as trainer Sugar Hill Steward implored his man to "use your damn legs". A quieter seventh was perhaps falling Fury's way on the jab before he left himself exposed to the overhand left and went on the retreat, gulping air and matching up Usyk's southpaw stance.
That was a brief dalliance and the orthodox uppercut that brought Fury plenty of success in the first fight was deployed and blocked. More data and information for the whirring, fighting supercomputer from Ukraine, who laid down a couple more puzzles and traps on the retreat before exploding into front-foot combinations.
A firecracker Usyk one-two at the start of the ninth prompted a meaty Fury right to the body in return. The champion's midsection has been repeatedly flagged as a weakness by Fury and he sought to zone in on it. Usyk smothered the uppercut upstairs and held, looking to be feeling the pace before steadying Fury with a jab, then a right hook to leave the challenger backpedalling.
WHAT. A. FIGHT. 🔥 #UsykFury2 | @DAZNBoxing | #RiyadhSeason pic.twitter.com/qKBQDF2ulb
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) December 21, 2024
Round 10. Championship rounds. Business time. Still so little between them and they went to work. Fury's body attack versus Usyk's pinging headshots was an irresistible inversion of what a big man vs. little man masterpiece should produce. Fury took a left hand well and held, fired back with the right uppercut before Usyk made him miss and countered irresistibly.
The sense heading into the final two rounds was of Usyk being marginally ahead and he continued to be quicker and more relentless, although the damage to his nose and eye showed the perils of this rare genius operating in the land of the giants. For his part, the Goliath Fury was taking too many stinging blows from David's slingshot.
Sugar Hill told Tyson "there ain't no tomorrow" and he thundered out for a legacy-shaping final three minutes. A big left hook persuaded Usyk to take an increasingly rare backward step and the one-two he wore from Fury spoke of fatigue. Or it did until he landed a thudding three-punch combination upstairs and got back to his balletic right jab and clouted Fury with a left on the bell. Both men celebrated, and it was deserved for what they poured into 12 and 24 rounds. But it was Usyk who danced, hard as nails, towards boxing immortality.
Usyk vs. Fury 2 fight card
- Oleksandr Usyk (c) def. Tyson Fury to retain the WBA, WBC, WBO, and Ring heavyweight titles
- Serhii Bohachuk def. Ishmael Davis (TKO 6/12); Super Welterweights
- Moses Itauma def. Demsey McKean (TKO 1/10); Heavyweights
- Johnny Fisher def. Dave Allen (SD 10); Heavyweights
- Peter McGrail def. Rhys Edwards (UD 10); Super Featherweight
- Lee McGregor def. Isaac Lowe (UD 10); Featherweights
- Daniel Lapin def. Dylan Colin (UD 10); Light Heavyweights
- Andrii Novytskyi def. Edgar Ramirez (UD 10); Heavyweights
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