Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk – Results & Post-Fight Report

Oleksandr Usyk became the first undisputed heavyweight champion in the four-belt era, as he took a split decision against Tyson Fury at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

This match had been a while in the making, with Fury (34-1-1, KO24) taking the WBC title in a knockout rematch win against Deontay Wilder in 2020, and Usyk (22-0, KO14) winning the remaining three major belts by defeating Anthony Joshua twice in both London and Saudi Arabia. Usyk defended in a ninth round stoppage of Daniel Dubois last August, while Fury’s last outing was a disputed split decision win over UFC champion Francis Ngannou last October.

Fury was forced to withdraw from a proposed December date with Usyk thanks to his gruelling contest with Ngannou, and a February clash was scuppered due to a cut sustained in sparring by ‘The Gypsy King’.

It was a measured start by both in the opening round, with Fury posturing and posing, and Usyk targeting his opponent’s body. Usyk immediately landed with a clubbing left hook to start the second, and Fury began to warm to his task, landing with crisp shots towards the end of the session. Usyk continued to whip in body shots, and Fury worked his jab, and the fourth saw Fury open up, only to be met with more educated pressure from the Ukrainian, but the Englishman had his best spell of the contest.

Fury was enjoying his work, troubling Usyk with a body shot in the fifth, as did a right hand in round six, as well as an uppercut, and the WBC champion was gathering momentum. Fury was now moving the fight to his preferred pace, although Usyk did have success with his left hand in the seventh, and he was beginning to turn the tide back in his favour as he upped the ante in round eight, a big left hand connecting, causing Fury’s nose to bleed profusely.

The nose was troubling Fury, and the ninth saw him unravel, as Usyk landed with a massive left that rocked him to his boots, and with Fury reeling, only the ropes kept him up, and after a count, only the bell saved him from a stoppage defeat. Usyk remained calm and measured, and Fury took the tenth round off to clear his head, and the penultimate frame saw Usyk keep control of the contest, with Fury seemingly needing a massive final round to snatch victory.

Fury gave it his all, with a right hand troubling Usyk, but the contest went to the final bell, and the three scoring judges to pick a winner.

One judge had it 114-113 to Fury, but was overruled by scores of 115-112 and 114-113 to declare Usyk a worthy winner.

Opetaia battles past Briedis to reclaim IBF belt

The chief support saw Jai Opetaia regain the IBF cruiserweight title, taking the vacant belt with a points win against Mairis Briedis.

The two met in 2022 in a thriller, which Opetaia (25-0, 19 KOs) won on the cards, and the Australian bossed the first half of the sequel, but like their original meeting, Briedis (28-3, 20 KOs) conserved his energy for the later rounds.

Opetaia troubled the 39-year-old in the tenth, only for the Latvian to buzz the southpaw in return in the same round, and he grew in confidence from it, connecting with power punches in the penultimate frame.

Ultimately, Briedis ran out of time, and Opetaia made the final bell, where he won by two scores of 116-112, and a third at 117-111.

Cacace halts Cordina to become world champion

Anthony Cacace sensationally became the new IBF super featherweight champion, adding that to his IBO title, as he stopped Joe Cordina in eight rounds in a thriller.

Cacace (22-1, 8 KOs) let his hands go in round three, and the Welshman was wobbled, eventually dropped by an uppercut.

Cordina’s head sufficiently cleared, and he inched back into the fight, but the Northern Irishman had a big end to the sixth, buckling Cordina (17-1, 9 KOs) once more with spiteful shots.

The end came two rounds later, a jarring right hook buzzing the 32-year-old and the referee spared any further punishment by jumping in with the champion under heavy fire.

Kabayel stops Sanchez

The final eliminator for the WBC heavyweight title went the way of Agit Kabayel, as he dominated Frank Sanchez (24-1, 17 KOs) in a seventh round knockout win.

It was an unambitious display from the Cuban, and Kabayel (25-0, 17 KOs) scored a knockdown with a body shot in round seven, and when the contest resumed, a straight right to Sanchez’s mid-section had him down once more, and out for the full count.

The German picked up the WBC Continental Americas and WBO NABO straps as a result of his win.

Chamberlain destroys Wahab

Mark Chamberlain (16-0, 12 KOs) displayed his heavy hands, and took the vacant WBC Silver lightweight title by blowing Joshua Wahab away inside a round.

A massive straight left hand deposited Wahab (23-2, 16 KOs) to the canvas early on, and a two-fisted attack, following a raking left ended matters not long after the resumption.

Itauma ices Mezencev

Moses Itauma also enjoyed an early evening, as he poleaxed Ilja Mezencev in the second round of their clash, winning the vacant WBO Intercontinental title in the process.

Itauma (9-0, 7 KOs) caught the German high on the head with a big right hand, and Mezencev (25-4, 21 KOs) was dropped heavily, rising on unsteady legs that forced the referee to stop the bout.

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Kovalev stunned by Safar

Former unified light heavyweight king Sergey Kovalev returned from a long lay-off, and ‘Krusher’, now campaigning at cruiserweight, dropped a ten round decision to Robin Safar (17-0, KO12).

The Swede took over after a competitive first half, and decked Kovalev (35-5-1, 29 KOs) heavily with just seconds to spare in the final round, and took the win by scores of 99-90, 97-92 and 95-94.

Remaining Undercard

A double Commonwealth Games champion as an amateur and an Olympic Bronze medallist, David Nyika claimed the vacant IBF International cruiserweight title as he broke Michael Seitz (12-1, 10 KOs) down, scoring a fourth round stoppage.

Nyika (9-0, 8 KOs) unloaded to head and body in the fourth, and a combination of shots put the German down, with the referee wisely waving the bout off mid-count.

The tall and rangy Ukrainian Daniel Lapin wasted little time, needing just over 90 seconds to deal with Octavio Pudivitir to take the WBA Continental light heavyweight title.

 

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Pudivitir (9-2, 4 KOs) took a jab and a slashing left hand from Lapin (10-0, 4 KOs) and he turned away, then dipping down to the canvas, and Lapin put on the finishing touches, with the Portuguese unable to beat the referee’s count.

Isaac Lowe (25-2-3, 8 KOs) opened the show, and Fury’s cousin dropped Hasibullah Ahmadi (16-2, 5 KOs) on the way to a 97-92 win on the referee’s card after ten rounds at featherweight.