On Saturday night, December 21st, at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the undefeated WBO, WBA, WBC, world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson “The Gypsy King” Fury for a second time and solidified his spot as the 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 bout with an adjustment he made from the first fight, but despite the adjustment, at the end of the contest, Usyk was once again declared the winner.
Oleksandr Usyk won his first world title back in September 2016 when he defeated Krzysztof Glowacki via unanimous decision and won the WBO cruiserweight title. Two years later, Usyk became a unified champion when he beat Mairis Briedis and won the WBC strap.
Usyk would go on to make history by defeating Murat Gassiev and collecting the WBA and IBF world title belts. With the victory, Oleksandr Usyk became the first undisputed cruiserweight champion of the four-belt era. Usyk also became the first cruiserweight to go undisputed since Evander Holyfield did it 30 years prior, back in 1988.
While Usyk was dominating the cruiserweight division, a trio of boxers were jocking for position as boxing fans were trying to figure out which one 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 would face each other in December 2018, as the entertaining bout ended in a split-decision draw. Back in February 2020, Fury won the rematch, and it appeared that he was ready to separate himself and become the top heavyweight. However, a year later, a wild card made his 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 a unanimous decision and won the WBA, IBF, and WBO titles. Joshua was better prepared for the second fight, but he fell 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 inside the ring in May 2024 to face the undefeated WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
Usyk was the aggressor as he forced Fury to fight off the back foot. At the conclusion of the 12-round contest, Oleksandr Usyk won by way of a split decision. With the victory over Fury, Oleksandr Usyk made history by becoming the third male boxer to go undisputed in two weight classes.
Seven months later, the highly anticipated rematch took place. Early on in the fight, Fury showed an adjustment as he was pressing forward and being the aggressor. However, as the fight went on, the southpaw Usyk was able to reclaim the role of the aggressor as he pressed forward and consistently landed hard left-hand shots.
When the match ended, Oleksandr Usyk was once again declared the winner, as all three judges scored the bout 116-112 in favor of Usyk. With the victory, Usyk beat both Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury twice.
With the four total wins against Joshua and Fury, and the victory over Daniel Dubois, Oleksandr Usyk has proven himself to be 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, the unified world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) is a matchup nightmare.
The 37-year-old Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk has officially conquered the heavyweight division, and now the question is, will he stay at heavyweight or make a return to the cruiserweight division?