The ultimate heavyweight supremacy is up for grabs this Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as the first undisputed title fight in the four-belt era takes place. WBC champion Tyson Fury, and WBA ‘super’, IBF and WBO boss Oleksandr Usyk finally collide.
Fury vs Usyk is available on Sky Sports Box Office and TNT Sports Box Office in the UK, whilst ESPN+ pay-per-view and DAZN pay-per-view hold the US rights.
Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) has flirted with retirement on several occasions, and after capturing three of the four major world titles in a superb points win in 2015 against Wladimir Klitschko, he spiralled into depression, before making a monumental comeback in 2018.
’The Gypsy King’ would scale the mountain once again in a rematch stoppage win against Deontay Wilder in February 2020, and knocked out the American out in a thrilling trilogy match nearly two years later, down twice and scoring three knockdowns before winning in the penultimate round.
Stoppage wins against Dillian Whyte and Dereck Chisora followed, and Fury then decided to take on an assignment against ex-UFC champion Francis Ngannou.
Many expected the 35-year-old to handle the Cameroonian with ease, but he struggled, and was dropped before taking a contentious split decision win over ten rounds.
A match with Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) has been in the works for some time, with a February date scrapped due to a cut sustained by the Englishman.
The Ukrainian has built a stellar record after striking Olympic Gold in 2012.
The 37-year-old cleaned out the cruiserweight division, winning the World Boxing Super Series, and completing the full collection of belts with a wide points win against Murat Gassiev in 2018, and after stopping Tony Bellew, he moved up to heavyweight.
Victories against Chazz Witherspoon and Derek Chisora introduced ’The Cat’ to the division, and he then took the three belts he now owns in a superb points win against Anthony Joshua in September 2021.
A rematch saw Usyk take a split decision win against a slightly improved’ AJ’ in Saudi Arabia, and he was last seen last August, occasionally troubled by Daniel Dubois before finding the power to score a ninth round stoppage.
Prediction: Fury looks in better shape than for the Ngannou fight, which indicated he took the MMA fighter lightly, and he looks switched on for this one.
Usyk has shown weakness to the body, but his IQ and skillset are elite, and he will need those here. I think this could be a technical affair, with Fury smothering Usyk at every opportunity, but Usyk can box clever, and I lean towards him taking a razor-thin decision.
Opetaia battles Briedis in rematch
A rematch heads the undercard, with Jai Opetaia (24-0, 19 KOs) meeting Mairis Briedis (28-2, 20 KOs) for a second time with the vacant IBF title at stake.
Opetaia upset the Latvian in July 2022, taking a deserved points win in Australia, and Briedis hasn’t boxed since.
The 28-year-old has enhanced his reputation since that win, blasting out Jordan Thompson and Ellis Zorro, but the latter cost him the IBF belt he won against Briedis as the organisation didn’t approve Zorro as an opponent.
Prediction: Opetaia has gone from strength to strength since defeating Briedis, and I fancy him to do an even better job this time, possibly by late stoppage.
Cordina clashes with Cacace
More world title action comes at super featherweight, where IBF champion Joe Cordina takes on IBO title holder Anthony Cacace.
Cordina (17-0, 9 KOs) is a two-time holder of the IBF crown, knocking out Kenichi Ogawa in two rounds in June 2022, before losing his belt as he was unable to defend due to injury, but the Welshman regained in a split verdict win against Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov in Cardiff in April last year.
‘The Welsh Wizard’ defended in Monaco last November, but laboured in a majority nod over Edward Vazquez. Cacace (21-1, 7 KOs) has had a stop-start career, due to injury and promotional issues, and he won the IBO belt in 2022, taking a split decision against Michael Magnesi.
‘The Apache’ was last out in May last year, outscoring Damian Wrzesinski in Belfast.
Prediction: Cordina wasn’t at his best against Vazquez, but I expect him to be firing here, and he can take a clear points win in this one.
Kovalev returns
Sergey Kovalev (35-4-1, 29 KOs) boxes for the first time in just over two years, and the former unified light heavyweight champion campaigns at cruiserweight once more, where he can take a stoppage win against the unbeaten Robin Sirwan Safar (16-0, 12 KOs), who has never been past eight rounds.
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Kabayel meets Sanchez
An intriguing clash at heavyweight sees two men with identical records face off. Agit Kabayel (24-0, 16 KOs) is coming off a superb fourth round stoppage of Arslanbek Makhmudov, and he can score another notable win against Frank Sanchez (24-0, 17 KOs) in their scheduled ten rounder, likely inside schedule.
Remaining Undercard
Mark Chamberlain (15-0, 11 KOs) has held a variety of fringe titles in his career to date, and he can add the vacant WBC Silver lightweight to his collection with a win on the scorecards against Joshua Oluwaseun Wahab (23-1, 16 KOs).
Isaac Lowe (24-2-3, 8 KOs) gets another slot on a Fury undercard, and he should get the job done against Hasibullah Ahmadi (16-1, 5 KOs) over the ten round distance at featherweight.
Moses Itauma (8-0, 6 KOs) can take his first title, the WBO Intercontinental heavyweight strap, with an early win against Ilja Mezencev (25-3, 21 KOs), and Daniel Lapin (9-0, 3 KOs) can claim the vacant WBA Intercontinental light heavyweight bauble on the cards against Octavio Pudvitr (9-1, 4 KOs).
Talented New Zealander, David Nyika (8-0, 7 KOs) also sees action, and he can halt Michael Seitz (12-0, 10 KOs) in a battle of unbeatens over eight rounds.
