Oleksandr Uzyk defeats Tyson Fury by split decision Undisputed

Oleksandr Usyk floored Tyson Fury in the ninth round and then recovered to win via split decision making him the first heavyweight champion undisputed in the four-belt era.

By Mike Coppinger

May 18, 2024 11:40 PM

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — There hadn’t been an undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield in a rematch of all-time greats in November 1999 in Las Vegas.

Halfway across the globe -almost 25 years later another undisputed champion of the boxing’s glamour division was announced by Oleksandr Usyk knocked down Tyson Fury in Round 9 in a split decision win early Sunday morning at the packed Kingdom Arena.

The wait was worthwhile as both gave a performance that was worthy of their prize that they are fighting for.

A judge scored the case 114-113 in favor of Fury but was dismissed with scores of 114-113 and 115-112 in favor of Usyk and left Fury the Englishman his first loss as a professional.

“It’s [a] big opportunity for me, for my family, for my country, for history,” Usyk is a resident of war-ravaged Ukraine stated. “It’s [a] great day.”

Usyk who was crowned in the WBC with WBA, IBF and WBO belts, won Fury’s WBC title, becoming the first undisputed heavyweight champion in the four-belt period. He also was the lineal champion the title Fury held since 2015 after an unexpected win over his countryman Wladimir Klitschko.

The two-fight package for the long-awaited fight included a scheduled October. 12 fight in Riyadh in which Fury will attempt to make up the difference and advance to a fight with Anthony Joshua in the first quarter of 2025.

“I believe I won the fight, but I’m not going to sit here and cry and make excuses,” Fury added. Fury who had a weight advantage of 39 pounds and 6 inches over Usyk. “I believe he won a few of the rounds, but I won the majority of them. What can you do? We both put on a good fight, the best we could do. … People are siding with the country at war. But make no mistake, I won that fight … and I’ll be back. We’ve got a rematch clause.”

Usyk (22-0 14 KOs) required four stitches to repair a wound on his left eye as per his promoter K2 Promotions’ Alexander Krassyuk. There was also the possibility that Usyk was injured by a fractured jaw during the fight and was scheduled to go to the hospital in his hometown to undergo an MRI. The assistant trainer and cutman for Usyk, Russ Anber, told ESPN that the fighter did not feel pain in his jaw up until the day after his fight.

Then again, Krassyuk told ESPN there is “no doubt” Usyk would be fit for the planned Oct. 12 match.

Usyk 37, who is at the point of ending Fury in Round 9 when the American landed 14 flushes while Fury the Englishman moved around the boxing ring. The final blow resulted in Fury to fall into the ropes, holding him in place in the ninth fall in his illustrious career. Before Usyk was able to take on Fury (34-1-1 24 knockdowns) at the end of the round and the round came to an end. Then, when round 10 started, Fury had recovered following the rest period of one minute.

Even though Usyk was unable to end Fury but he did shift his momentum during the fight to win. He won rounds 8-10 and 10-10, on the three scorecards, allowing him to make it clear in the final round. Fury took the final round with a majority however by that point there was no time to celebrate.

In spite of defeat, Fury rebounded in a massive way following his mediocre performance with Francis Ngannou, the former UFC heavyweight champion who was boxing professional for the very first time in his career when Fury fought Fury. Fury 35 was knocked down in the third round of the bout in his quest for an undisputed victory in a non-title bout.

With Usyk, “The Gypsy King” boxed brilliantly over long periods with precision, using feints and his long jabs to disperse Usyk out of his range. He frequently followed it up with a sharp right uppercut, which clipped Usyk several times.

Fury took the win in Rounds 5 and 7 in a unanimous manner and began to smack Usyk, placing on his shoulders, and smiling at Usyk every time he thumped his body shot. But Usyk never wavered. He continued to push forward, and slowly, but slowly, his pressure began to wear down Fury.

Usyk was able to push Fury to the ropes, and then began to locate a suitable spot for his left hand overhand which allowed him to win two wins against Joshua between 2021-2022 in order to win the unification heavyweight title.

Fury began his fight as ESPN’s No. 10 pound-for pound boxer and also the No. 1 heavyweight. Usyk was ranked at No. 2 at heavyweight, and No. 3 pound-for-pound.

The fight was initially scheduled for February. 17 but was delayed after Fury suffered a cut during sparring that required 11 stitches to his right eye just two weeks prior to the fight. When he was fighting Usyk, Fury suffered another cut, this time in his left eye.

Punch Stats

Usyk caused the injury with a career-best performance in the wake of an KO in the ninth round against Daniel Dubois in August in Poland. He also performed it in front of Klitschko who was on the ring as was Lewis as well as Holyfield. Klitschko’s brother (and another former heavyweight champion) Vitali is the mayor of Kiev.

After the news conference, Usyk was presented two flags, which were signed by the Ukrainian military that was fighting Russian forces near the border.

“They are real heroes,” Krassyuk declared. “Usyk is fighting because of them, because they give him this possibility.”

When the battle against Fury was coming to an end, Usyk remembered his late father who passed away just a few days after Usyk won victory during the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Usyk was unable to hand the award to him.

The postfight press conference Sunday, when he broke into tears on the podium, Usyk said, “I know he is here with me.”