Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk LIVE!
Oleksandr Usyk is celebrating a historic night in Saudi Arabia after beating Tyson Fury to become boxing’s first undisputed heavyweight champion for 25 years. The Ukrainian deservedly came out on top in a captivating main event at Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena, starting extremely well and then weathering a Fury comeback in the middle rounds before almost stopping his long-time rival in the ninth and eventually taking a split decision on the judges’ scorecards.
Two had the bout 115-112 and 114-113 in favour of Usyk, the first undisputed heavyweight king since Lennox Lewis in 1999 and the very first of the four-belt era who also previously reigned as the first four-belt undisputed cruiserweight champion. Another judge controversially scored the bout 114-113 in favour of Fury, who lost his WBC belt in a first professional defeat as he plots swift revenge in a contracted rematch that is expected to take place in October.
We also saw Joe Cordina stunned by Anthony Cacace on Saturday night to lose his IBF super-featherweight title in a first career loss of his own, while Jai Opetaia outlasted Mairis Briedis to regain the IBF cruiserweight belt. Moses Itauma and Mark Chamberlain both recorded vicious early knockouts, while Agit Kabayel stopped the previously unbeaten Frank Sanchez and Sergey Kovalev's return ended in disappointing defeat by Robin Safar. Follow Fury vs Usyk reaction live below!
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Fury vs Usyk scorecards revealed in full
The full judges’ scorecards from Saturday night’s epic showdown between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk have now been revealed in full.
Two judges, Spain’s Manuel Oliver Palomo and American Mike Fitzgerald, both scored the fight in favour of Usyk, 115-112 and 114-113 respectively.
However, a third judge, Craig Metcalfe of Canada, returned a final score of 114-113 for Fury.
The full scorecards have now been shown, with all three judges giving the opening round to Usyk.
Palomo and Metcalfe both gave the second to Fury, though Fitzgerald had Usyk 2-0 up.
When will the rematch happen?
Tyson Fury has stated his intention to trigger an immediate rematch clause following defeat by Oleksandr Usyk.
Fury will get the chance to inflict immediate revenge on Usyk should he so wish, with the contract for the much-anticipated, twice-delayed showdown featuring a clause that allows the loser of the first fight to trigger a swift rematch, with mid-October previously pinpointed as the most likely date.
Fury seemed very eager to make use of such a clause in his immediate post-fight interview in the ring, stating: “We go back home to our families and we run it back in October.
“Yeah, for sure [immediate rematch]. We go back, have a little rest up and spend some time with our families and get it back on in October.
“I believe I won the fight, but I’m not going to sit here and cry and make excuses. It was a good fight.”
Quizzed on the rematch, Usyk said in the ring: “Yes, of course. I’m ready for the rematch.”
However, Fury seemed more non-committal on an immediate rematch during his post-fight press conference, insisting he would take time to weigh up his next move with promoter Frank Warren.
Oleksandr Usyk breaks down in tears after historic win
An emotional Oleksandr Usyk fought back the tears after his stunning victory over Tyson Fury.
Usyk was in tears in the ring after his win over Fury, dedicating his victory to his team, his family and the people of Ukraine.
The 37-year-old also broke down in tears in his post-fight press conference while discussing his late father, who died shortly after his son’s gold medal triumph at the London 2012 Olympics.
“I miss my father,” Usyk said. “I know he’s here.”
Tyson Fury causes controversy with Ukraine war comments
Tyson Fury has caused controversy with comments regarding the ongoing war in Ukraine following his close defeat by Oleksandr Usyk.
Most onlookers felt the right decision had been reached in the end, though Fury was disappointed to have lost and said he felt he had done more than enough to win.
He then caused controversy by claiming that Ukraine’s ongoing war with Russia had led to people siding with his opponent, while he also stated his desire to immediately activate his clause for a rematch in October.
“I believe I won that fight,” Fury said in the ring afterwards. “I believe he won a few of the rounds but I won the majority of them.
“We both put on a good fight, best we could do. His country is at war, so people are siding with the country at war.
“Make no mistake, I won that fight in my opinion and I’ll be back. I’ve got a rematch clause.”
Emotional scenes in Usyk’s post-fight press conference as he remembers and pays tribute to his late father.
Usyk’s first post-fight update on Instagram, welcoming his newest belt into the fold.
It certainly won’t be short of company!
Fury: I could have gone for late stoppage
More from Fury’s post-fight press conference now.
Interesting to hear that he would have gone for the late knockout if instructed to do so by his corner, who falsely believed he was on track for victory.
“It was a close fight, I thought I did enough but I’m not a judge,” he said.
“I can’t judge a fight while I’m boxing it. If they would have said to me in the last round, ‘you’re down, go out and try and finish him’ - I would have done that.
“Everyone in the corner believed we were up. All I had to do was just keep boxing and doing what I was doing. I thought I was getting it.
“It was what it was, I’m not going to cry about spilt milk. I’ve had plenty of victories and I gave God the glory.
“I’ve had this one loss in a close fight with a good man like Usyk. It was what it was. I tried my best in there, I was having a lot of fun actually.
“I don’t know if it looked like it, but I was playing around, hands behind my back.
“I was enjoying it. He’s a good fighter, I was catching him and he was catching me. It was a good fight.”
WBA lightweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis not happy with that decision...
Fury not planning to walk away from boxing after first defeat
Fury, who turns 36 in August, appears to have no plans to step away from boxing after suffering an agonising first professional loss.
“Close fight, could have nicked it, couldn’t have, whatever, could have been a draw, who knows? But I haven’t got the decision and I’m not going to cry about it.
“We’ll regroup, I’ll have a holiday, go home, speak to the wife and kids and I’ll see what I want to do.
“I ain’t boxing in here because I’ve got no money. I box because I love it.
“Do you understand? I’m 36 in a few months and I’ve been boxing since I was a child. So it is what it is.
“Where does it all end? Do you have 100 fights and brain damage in a wheelchair? I’m not sure.
“But the one thing is, all the time I’m still loving the game... I was having fun in there, I was really enjoying myself. Then I’ll continue to do it. When I can’t do that anymore, I’ll pack it up.”
What a picture. What a fighter.
Undisputed at heavyweight, undisputed at cruiserweight, unbeaten as a professional, an Olympic, World and European amateur champion.
Is there anything this man can’t do?!
Just amazing.
