Oleksandr Usyk decisions Tyson Fury unanimously to end their rivalry
Oleksandr Usyk decisioned Tyson Fury unanimously to put their rivalry to bed
Oleksandr Usyk (23-0, 14KO) triumphed over Tyson Fury (34-2-1, 24KO) with all three judges scoring the fight 116-112.
The heavyweights clashed in Saudi Arabia on December 21, 31 weeks after their first fight in May, where Usyk was crowned undisputed heavyweight champion with a narrow split decision result. This time, the fight was just as close, but all three judges agreed on the outcome.
Fury was not in agreement and strongly believed he won the fight. Many fight fans felt that the scoring was too wide for such a closely fought contest. However, the judges didn't score any of the second half of the fight to Fury, only Ignacio Robles gave round nine to Fury and Gerardo Martinez gave the dramatic last round to the Brit.
Round 1: Fury 2-1
Round 2: Usyk 2-1
Round 3: Usyk 2-1
Round 4: Fury 3-0
Round 5: Fury 3-0
Round 6: Usyk 3-0
Round 7: Usyk 3-0
Round 8: Usyk 3-0
Round 9: Usyk 2-1
Round 10: Usyk 3-0
Round 11: Usyk 3-0
Round 12: Usyk 2-1
The victor gave praise to his worthy opponent, "This is my best friend. Tyson Fury make me strong - motivated for me, but Tyson is a great opponent. Very respect Tyson Fury. 24 rounds! Listen, now is already history."
Fury landed a strong straight right in round two to capture the unified champion's attention. In round four, he landed another clean one-two, and in round five caught the Ukrainian with a big left uppercut as well as two big hooks to the body.
In the sixth stanza, Usyk cleverly jabbed to the body to distract from a big backhand left up top, rocking Fury's head back. Then the Ukrainian managed to get another big left in through the guard in the final seconds of the round.
Fury came back from losing rounds six to eight with a big performance in the ninth.
Usyk stunned Fury momentarily in the 11th with a big left hand that caught him completely cold.
The pair ended the fight swinging in a dramatic final round.
The punch stats affirmed the result with Usyk landing 179 punches to Tyson's 144. However, Fury's disappointment at the result saw 'The Gypsy King' storm out of the ring early and did not give a customary post-fight interview.
The 6ft 9in star fumed, "[I was] robbed there. I swear to God I thought I won by at least three rounds."
He added, "What's next for me? I'm going home and having some time off."
He also left a cryptic message hinting at retirement, "You might see me fight again, you might not."
The Compubox stats verified Usyk as the rightful winner.
Things you didn’t know about Oleksandr Usyk
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Fisher vs Allen
Johnny Fisher climbed off the canvas to outpoint Dave Allen over 10 rounds.
25-year-old Fisher landed a low blow in the first round which caused Allen to stop and look at the judge, but when his complaint went unanswered 'The Romford Bull' steamed in to take advantage of the moment.
Fisher was utilising his long reach advantage to land straight shots.
Then there was huge drama in the fifth when Fisher landed another low blow in a clinch, which sparked anger in Allen to land a huge left hook to the head which instantly hurt the Essex boxer and tumbled to the canvas for the first time in his career. Fisher was badly hurt and still had two minutes in the round to go. He was bundled over again but wasn't ruled a knockdown, however he smartly used to time to recover. He then ate a huge uppercut moments later, forced to hold on for dear life.
In the seventh, he was caught with yet another mammoth uppercut. Fisher absorbed a lot of punishment in the seventh round and proved he has a good chin to go with his fighting skills.
The scores of 96-93 to Allen, 95-94 and 95-94 to Fisher were met with boos from the disgruntled audience.
McGrail vs Edwards
Peter McGrail defeated stand-in opponent Rhys Edwards via UD.
Former Olympian McGrail started fast and displayed such skill and speed. He was caught with a right from Rhys midway through the second.
McGrail was always the aggressor trying to find openings by exploring angles from his southpaw stance. In the third, a clash of heads saw McGrail open up a cut on his right eye. Edwards came on strong in the fourth, motivated by the cut.
McGrail battled through the cut to win 96-94, 96-94, 96-95, a result which Edwards visibly disagreed with.
Teammate Nick Ball commented from his seat in the crowd, "Job done, back and forth but he came out on top. It was a good fight to watch though."
McGregor vs Lowe
'Lightning' Lee McGregor continued his winning streak with a unanimous decision over Isaac Lowe.
Itauma vs McKean
The future of heavyweight boxing, Moses Itauma, destroyed Demsey McKean in one round To retain his WBO Inter-Continental title. The WBO belt used to belong to Oleksandr Usyk when he had his seond fight at heavyweight in 2020.
The southpaw from Kent landed a strong jab to the body taking advantage of the Aussie's high guard. The taller Demsey, known as 'The Tower', was soon down from a huge left hand that grazed over the top of his head to drop him heavily.
Moses then landed the same shot again, this time flush on the temple. McKean's corner instantly stepped into the ring to save their man, while Itauma celebrated with trainer Ben Davison.
19-year-old Itauma only needed two minutes to get the job done and keep his chances of becoming the youngest heavyweight world champion very much alive.
