The first four-belt, undisputed heavyweight title fight did not disappoint on Saturday night in Saudi Arabia
• 2 min read
There is a new king of the boxing world. His name is Oleksandr Usyk. The native of Ukraine became the third fighter of the four-belt era to become undisputed champion in a second weight class when he took down Tyson Fury by split decision on Saturday night. Usyk paired Fury’s WBC and lineal heavyweight crowns with his own WBA, WBO and IBF titles as the first person to do so since Lennox Lewis in 1999 when there were only three recognized titles in rotation.
Usyk worked hard to earn the final jewel, too. He struggled in the early rounds as Fury danced and showboated around the ring while using his reach well to frustrate the smaller man. But Usyk rallied well and hung tough to start and turned the fight in his favor near the end. The defining moment came in Round 9 when Usyk landed a perfect left hook that appeared to knock Fury out on his feet. The giant stumbled around the ring, absorbing more punches, before finally hitting the mat. He returned to his feet to barely survive the round and did not look like himself for the final three rounds. Now, the two likely head to a big-money rematch later this year, but the undisputed title won’t be at stake as the IBF title will be stripped from Usyk because of overdue mandatory challengers.
Elsewhere on the card, Jai Opetaia regained the cruiserweight title he never lost in the ring against a familiar face. Opetaia battered Mairis Briedis before surviving a late onslaught to capture the IBF title at 200 pounds. The native of Australia is undefeated at 25-0 with 19 knockouts on his resume. Plus, Anthony Cacace pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the year in stopping Joe Cordina to claim the IBF super featherweight title. The 35-year-old badly hurt Cordina early in the fight as the referee was stepping in to break up a clinch and Cordina never fully recovered as Cacace poured on the pressure before the fight was waved off.
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Fury vs. Usyk fight card, results
- Oleksandr Usyk (c) def. Tyson Fury via split decision (115-112, 113-114, 114-113)
- Jai Opetaia (c) def. Mairis Briedis via unanimous decision (117-111, 116-112, 116-112)
- Anthony Cacace def. Joe Cordina (c) via eighth-round knockout
- Agit Kabayel def. Frank Sanchez via seventh-round knockout
- Moses Itauma def. Ilja Mezencev via second-round knockout
- Mark Chamberlain def. Joshua Oluwaseun Wahab via first-round knockout
- Robin Sirwan Safar def. Sergey Kovalev via unanimous decision (97-92, 99-90, 95-94)
- David Nyika def. Michael Seitz via sixth-round knockout
Countdown
- Overall preview and predictions for the main event
- Campbell: Fury, the master of mind games, may have finally met his match
- Brookhouse: Undercard fights to watch this weekend
- Brookhouse: Usyk gets his chance at pound-for-pound glory
- Campbell: Five biggest storylines to watch in the undisputed showdown
- LOOK: John Fury head-butts member of Team Usyk during grand arrivals
