Oleksander Usyk (23-0, 12 KOs) looked like pure 24k gold, holding onto his WBA, WBC, and WBO heavyweight titles with a 12-round unanimous decision in his rematch with Tyson Fury (34-2-2, 24 KOs) on Saturday night at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia.
The fight was mostly a chess match, with Usyk, 37, using a lot of feints and spearing the 281-lb, chunky-looking Fury with hard left hands to the head. Tyson fought Usyk to a standstill through round five.
Fury’s Weight A Factor
In the sixth, Usyk lit up Fury, hitting him repeatedly with his left hand to the head and dominating the entire round.
The excess weight that Fury had packed on for the fight seemed to slow him in the second half of the contest, as he looked slow and unable to attack like he’d done in the first fight. The Gyspy Knig was carrying too much fat around his midsection. Even with his trunks pulled upper higher than usual, almost to his ribcage, you could see that he was not fight-fit for the rematch.
Fury went on the attack in the ninth, which was one of his better rounds. However, they came back strong in the tenth, chasing Fury8 around the ring in the last minute, hitting him with shots, and forcing him to hold.
In the 11th and 12th, it was Usyk still on the attack, with Fury giving ground, looking to tie him up to lean. That was all Fury had left – his mauling and it wasn’t going to work this time
The scores
116-112
116-112
116-112
Dubois Calls Out Usyk
IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois entered the ring to call out Usyk after the contest. It’s unclear who gave him the green light to enter, but it’s pretty easy to figure that out. Usyk said he was up for the fight.
Obviously, Usyk is not going to get the Anthony Joshua fight, as he beat him twice already, and it’s forlorn to have a third. The same is true with Fury. It’s pointless for Turki Alalshikh to set up a trilogy between them because Usyk is too good and Fury too old and fat.
After the fight, Fury’s promoter was interviewed and said that he felt he did enough to win. There wasn’t much applause when he said that.
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