Mike Coppinger, ESPN Boxing Insider
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Oleksandr Usyk retained his heavyweight title with a decision victory over Tyson Fury on Saturday. This was a unanimous rematch, and the content was as evenly matched as the first match in May.
Usyk, ESPN’s No. 1 pound-for-pound boxer, won 116-112 with the same score on all three cards.
The rounds were difficult to score, as Fury found much success, especially from the southpaw stance he switched from the orthodox, but Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) enjoyed the most memorable moment of the fight.
The Ukrainian, fighting for his war-torn homeland, consistently outmaneuvered the much larger Fury, connecting with a bunch of overhand lefts.
“I have a lot of respect for this guy because I think he’s very tough,” Usyk, 37, told ESPN. “…Tyson Fury makes me stronger. Tyson is a great opponent. He’s a big man. He’s a good guy. Tyson, I talk a lot, but it’s just for show.”
Usyk thanked Fury for “an unbelievable 24 rounds of my career.” He called Fury the best opponent he had ever faced, but thought the rematch was easier than the first fight.
Fury, 36, believed he had done enough to win, celebrating the victory at the final bell. When the scorecards were announced, he was disappointed and left the ring without being interviewed.
The match was entertaining from start to finish, a fast-paced heavyweight matchup with very few clinchers. But it wasn’t as thrilling as the first match, which is likely to win Match of the Year honors, also played in the Saudi capital.
Usyk-Fury 2 – CompuBox Punch Statistics
Punch Usyk Fury Landing Total 179144 Total Throws 423509 Percent 42.3%28.3% Number of Jab Throws 7344 Number of Jab Throws 211252 Percent 34.6%17.5% Throwing Power 106100 Throwing Power 212257 Percent 50%38.9%
In a fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship, Usyk sent Fury to the floor in the ninth round with 14 unresponsive punches against the ropes. The difference on the scorecards was a 10-8 round.
For the rematch, Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs) said if he doesn’t just mess around and can avoid a 10-8 round, he can even the score and force a trilogy bout. I swore. The “Gypsy King” never provoked Usyk and fulfilled his promise to fight more seriously.
The only time Fury performed for the crowd was during his electric entrance, singing Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” followed by Notorious B.I.G.’s “Hypnotize.”
“It’s more serious,” Fury, ESPN’s No. 2 heavyweight, said in the post-fight press conference. “…I thought we won the game again. …We were out a long time ago.”
Fury said he was confident he would advance to the final round. His right eye was smashed, but other than that he didn’t appear to have been injured in the fight, unlike the first time.
“This is what can happen if you don’t get the knockout,” he said.
The judges agreed in seven of the 12 rounds. Fury only scored two of those fights. In the fourth and fifth rounds he was able to score with powerful right hands, especially attacks to the body and a right uppercut to the jaw.
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Then, just like in the first match, Usyk imposed his will and took over in the second half. Usyk was able to constantly back Fury up with relentless and skillful pressure and feints, winning by unanimous decision in rounds 6, 7, 8, 10 and 11.
Usyk’s overhand left hand was his greatest weapon, and he often set it up with a jab to the body. Usyk gave up 55 pounds to the 281-pound Fury (a career high, but at the weigh-in, he stepped on the scale wearing a leather jacket and joked that Usyk might have had a cheeseburger in his pocket). .
And Usyk’s superior hand and foot speed was evident as the southpaw was able to avoid many of Fury’s power shots set up by his beautiful jab. Usyk was once the undisputed cruiserweight champion and now reigns as one of the best heavyweights of his generation in boxing’s glamorous division.
The 2012 Olympic gold medalist has two wins apiece against two of the sport’s top stars, Anthony Joshua and Fury, who have sold out Wembley Stadium many times.
“I did everything I could,” Fury said. “If I could have done more, I would have done it, but that’s it.”
