A rematch of the frontrunner for Fight of the Year arrives with unbeaten three-belt heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk meeting former champion Tyson Fury on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
BoxingScene will provide live round-by-round coverage here in what is expected to be a seminal showdown between the 37-year-old, two-division undisputed champion Usyk, 22-0 (14 KOs), of Ukraine, and the UK’s Fury, 34-1-1 (24 KOs).
The 36-year-old “Gypsy King” refused to shave his heavy beard despite a mild protest by the Usyk camp, a tactic some believe could provide some cushion from the heavy punches that dropped Fury in the ninth round of Usyk’s May 18 split decision triumph.
If the bout goes to the judges like their first meeting, there is some concern about the judging panel that features replacement judge Ignacio Robles of Panama alongside Pat Morley and Gerardo Martinez – not household names when it comes to major fights.
Round-by-round results, in reverse order, are as follows:
Ignacio Robles: Usyk,116-112
Pat Morley: Usyk, 116-112
Gerardo Martinez: Usyk, 116-112
ROUND 12: SugarHill pleading with Fury to let it rip. Great jab and follow by Usyk. He’s stepping on the gas. His fitness and smarts are supreme. Two rights by Usyk. Good jabs by Fury. Usyk is elusive. Good lefts – three – by Usyk. A hard left from Usyk. Usyk’s jab is sharp. A hard left by Usyk before the bell. Fury swings and misses. Usyk, 116-112, as we go to the real judges …
ROUND 11: Usyk popping in lefts while a desperate Fury looks for a big right. An Usyk left lands to the head. Right and left by Usyk. Fury combination. Left and right to the face by Usyk. Left to the face by Usyk. Usyk’s energy aids his punches. Nice right by Fury. Usyk, 106-103.
ROUND 10: Hard body shots by Fury. Right uppercut from Fury. Usyk is far fresher, but he eats a right uppercut. They hold twice. Fury leaning in. Usyk finds him with a left to the head. A left by Usyk. Usyk to the body. A Fury uppercut. Combinations by Usyk. Fury’s right eye is swollen. Usyk, 96-94.
ROUND 9: SugarHill Steward urging Fury to get busier, and Fury lands a right to the body. Fury jabs. A Fury body shot. Good left from Fury. Usyk answers. Right uppercut, Fury. Fury combination. Usyk left to the jaw. Hard left to the head by Usyk. Overall, Fury fresher in the ninth than he was in their first bout. Usyk 86-85.
ROUND 8: Usyk jabs the body. Fury jabs and gets in an uppercut. Usyk shrugs off the jab and lands a left. Heads collide accidentally, all OK. Usyk to the body. Usyk’s power shots increasing. A Fury combination. A big left by Usyk. Body and head shots from Usyk. Usyk 77-75.
ROUND 7: Usyk lands a right. Usyk peers at Fury’s head, ready to wield his left. A straight right to the nose by Fury. Usyk misses with a big left. Fury content to poke his jab. Usyk hammers a left to the head and another to the body. Fury backing up. Is he tiring? Fury tries to go southpaw. Usyk, 67-66.
ROUND 6: Fury peppers with the jab. Usyk sends a left to the top of the head. Fury’s left has been the best punch thus far. A jab sets up a right to the head. Combination by Usyk. Right to the body by Usyk. Fury to the body. A massive left by Usyk. Good combo by Usyk. Fury swings hard to close, but he gets hit hard before that. 57-57.
ROUND 5: Live odds show Fury as the favorite. His size and energy are effective thus far. Good left uppercut by Fury. And he presses Usyk to the ropes. Usyk to the body and head. Fury punches him off. Right-left by Fury. Clean right by Fury. Another. Usyk left. Fury hammers the body with a right. Usyk lands a combination. Fury, 48-47.
ROUND 4: Usyk delivers a short left. Fury effective at keeping distance with jab. Usyk back to body, but gets hit in head for daring to pursue. Big left to head by Usyk as Fury briefly turned southpaw. Another left. Good right by Fury. Fury lands clean jab and sends in right with vicious expression. 38-38.
ROUND 3: Two rights to the body by Usyk. Fury hits Usyk in the back of the head. Fury paws with the jab. Usyk breaks through. Fury turns southpaw and lands his jab. Usyk showing some blood at the nose. Fury, 29-28.
ROUND 2: Usyk scores a quick left. Fury goes to the body. Fury jabs set up a right. Usyk’s eyeing the body. Good right by Fury after Usyk landed some good lefts to the body. 19-19.
ROUND 1: In jabbing poses, the pair jostle for position. Fury lobs in some lefts. Usyk charges in with a combination. Fury lands a right. Usyk lands a left. Close opener to Fury, 10-9.
INTRODUCTIONS: Powered by a live drum solo to “Eye of the Tiger,” the fans in Saudi Arabia see highlights of the first classic Usyk-Fury battle and then Michael Buffer in the ring starting the ring walks.
Fury gets creative again, entering to Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas is You,” wearing a red-and-white robe garb and sporting a belly that the bearded Santa Claus would be proud of. Promising “pain,” “destruction” and “damage,” he vows to “annihilate” Usyk in a video.
Usyk, wearing a head covering in his native Ukraine colors of blue and gold, walks in with a determined expression and chats with his cornermen before the anthems “God Save the King,” and a Ukrainian choir performing its national song.
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