Oleksandr Usyk Outpoints Tyson Fury in Heavyweight Classic

.@Tyson_Fury makes his way to the ring to none other than Mariah Carey x Biggie Smalls 🎅#Usyk2Fury | BUY NOW on TNT Sports Box Office ▶️ https://t.co/FXWiFF98Ej pic.twitter.com/5K3DAHI8Fw

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After 24 rounds shared in the ring, Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury will forever be linked for their two wars together in the squared circle, but the history books will remember one man as the victor of their storied rivalry.

Usyk put his stamp on the feud Saturday night with a masterful 12-round performance that resulted in him retaining his WBA, WBO, WBC and Ring Magazine heavyweight titles by unanimous decision (116-112, 116-112, 116-112) in the DAZN main event at Freedom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) had to storm back in their first fight after a slow start, but that was not the case in the rematch. The defending champ took the fight to the 281-pound challenger and backed up the larger man with a stellar right hand. Usyk’s up-and-down erratic head movement bothered the slick boxer-puncher, and the former Ukrainian gold medalist was in control of the pace for the evening.

Fury (34-2-1) fought like a true champion, but it was not enough to get his hand raised, even as he presented danger for the entirety of the 36-minute encounter. Fury sniped Usyk with jabs and uppercuts, using his weight to push the champion around when he could. Unfortunately, at 36, the Manchester, England, native’s legs simply couldn’t keep up with the former cruiserweight titleholder’s pace and footwork.

With the win, Usyk retains three of four major belts in boxing, and has his sights set on a unification match with London’s Daniel Dubois, the owner of the remaining IBF strap. Usyk previously defeated Dubois in 2023, and would be instilled as a large favorite in their rematch. Dubois stormed the ring after Usyk’s victory, demanding they fight again. Usyk calmly remarked to the Saudi Arabian showrunners that they should put it together.

The undercard produced several thrilling matchups. In the co-main event, Moses Itauma (21-0, 11 KOs) destroyed Demsey McKean (22-2) in the first round of their heavyweight clash. Prior to that, Serhii Bohachuk stopped Ishmael Davis after six rounds to become the mandatory challenger for the WBC 154-pound belt; undefeated heavyweight Johnny Fisher survived a fifth-round knockdown to edge out David Allen by split decision (95-94, 93-96, 95-94); Scottish featherweight Lee McGregor (15-1-1) outworked England’s Isaac Lowe in a 10-round bout by unanimous decision (96-92, 97-91, 97-91); former Olympian Peter McGrail (11-1) handed Rhys Edwards (16-1) his first career defeat by a razor-thin unanimous decision (96-95, 96-94, 96-94); unbeaten Ukrainian light heavyweight prospect Daniel Lapin cruised to his 11th career win against Dylan Colin (100-90, 99-91, 99-91); heavyweight Andrii Novytskyi (15-0) survived his toughest test in Edgar Ramirez in a fight where the scorecards didn’t tell the entire story (100-90, 100-90, 98-92); 20-year-old super featherweight Mohammed Alakel started the night off by improving to 2-0 courtesy of a lopsided decision (60-53, 60-53, 60-53) over Joshua Ocampo (8-34-1).