For the first time during the four-belt era, we will finally crown an undisputed heavyweight champion as WBC titlist Tyson Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) will take on the unified WBA, WBO, IBF champion Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) on Saturday May 18th at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, live on DAZN PPV.
Initially, the Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk bout was scheduled to take place in February, but the fight was postponed due to Fury suffering a cut over his eye while sparring. Since then, the fight has been rescheduled and Usyk will receive his opportunity to make boxing history twice in one night.
A native of Simferopol, Crimea, Ukraine, the 2012 Olympic gold medalist Oleksandr Usyk made his pro debut back in November 2013 when he scored a 5th-round TKO victory over Felipe Romero. Three years later, Usyk won his first world title when he defeated Krzysztof Glowacki and won the WBO cruiserweight strap.
After three successful title defenses, Oleksandr Usyk became a unified champion when he beat Mairis Briedis via majority decision, and won the WBC title. Usyk would go on to post a unanimous decision victory over Murat Gassiev and won the WBA and the vacant IBF world titles.
Usyk defended his undisputed cruiserweight crown against Tony Bellew and won by way of an 8th-round knockout. After the victory, Usyk would proceed to move up to the heavyweight ranks. Within a period of one year, the former undisputed cruiserweight champion would fight for the unified heavyweight title.
On September 25, 2021, Oleksandr Usyk outboxed Anthony Joshua and won the WBA, WBO, and IBF heavyweight straps.
Eleven months later, Joshua had a better performance, but Usyk was able to remain champion by earning a split decision victory.
The unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk would go on to successfully defend his belts against Daniel Dubois. Now Usyk is on the verge of fighting for the last piece of the heavyweight puzzle as he’s ready to literally and figuratively take on the biggest challenge of his pro boxing career.
Standing at 6 ft 9, the Manchester, England native Tyson Fury stepped inside the squared circle to challenge the hard-hitting WBC world heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder back in December 2018. Fury survived two knockdowns and was able to get a split-decision draw.
Two years later, Fury dominated Wilder in the rematch as he scored a seventh-round TKO victory. In the trilogy fight, Wilder scored two knockdowns, but Fury was able to get up and stop Wilder in the 11th round.
In his most recent ring appearance, Fury suffered an embarrassing moment when former MMA heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou scored a knockdown against Fury in the third round. Despite the lackluster performance, Fury was able to escape with a victory.
Now the WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury is about to face one of the most skilled fighters in the sport of boxing. The winner of this bout will become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since November 1999 when Lennox Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield.
Oleksandr Usyk is a ring technician who has a strong jab, he’s a good counter puncher, has great timing, exceptional footwork, and he’s good at controlling the range and distance. Usyk is a hard target because he’s constantly moving from side to side and pivoting.
Tyson Fury is a big, athletic heavyweight who can fight on the inside, on the outside, and off of his backfoot. He has an educated jab that he throws in a variety of ways. Fury is a master at utilizing his jab, the right hand, using feints, and setting traps.
The southpaw Oleksandr Usyk is the smaller athletic type of boxer whom Fury struggles against. Usyk wants to control the range and distance, utilize his jab, throw timely left hands, and use constant movement to make this contest a pure boxing match.
Fury wants to use his reach to control the match from the outside, and then he wants to be physical once he’s able to press forward and get inside. Fury should test Usyk downstairs because, in the past, Usyk seemed vulnerable to body punches. Forget boxing, Tyson Fury needs to turn this bout into a fight.
On Saturday May 18th, the battle for undisputed will be an historical event. For the first time since 1999 we will have an undisputed heavyweight champion. If Oleksandr Usyk wins, he will become the third male boxer to be a four-belt undisputed champion in two divisions.
This Saturday May 18th, live on DAZN PPV, the Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk match is guaranteed to be a very entertaining event. Both men will enter the ring as an undefeated champion, but at the end of the night, somebody’s 0 has got to go.
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