Usyk Beats Fury To Become Undisputed Heavyweight Champion + 12 Rounds Blow-by-blow Analysis
Oleksandr Usyk has defeated Tyson Fury via a split decision to become the new undisputed heavy weight champion of the world, Worldtopnewsng reports.
This is the first defeat for Fury in 9 years.
Full analysis:
In round 1, Usyk off to a strong start, Fury runs out of his corner, but Usyk meets him in the middle of the ring by landing the fight’s first punch, a left jab. The southpaw Usyk is clearly the smaller man, standing six inches shorter and nearly 40 pounds lighter. Usyk corners Fury, and the Brit puts his arms on the top ropes and starts dancing. The all-business Usyk takes a few steps back to reset. Moments later, Usyk lands a big left hand to finish the round, and Fury feels it as he winces.
In round 2, Usyk comes out and delivers another deft and darting overhand left in the opening seconds of the round. Fury reacts by pitter-pattering his face with soft punches. The crowd reacts and starts chanting for the Ukrainian. The smaller Usyk is backing up the jolly giant, but Fury answers with a sweeping right and a smile. Fury delivers two chopping shots to the body to close the round.
In round 3, Usyk is very fleet on his feet. Fury appears to be stiff at times when the southpaw Usyk lunges in to unleash his left. Usyk is controlling the pace of the fight. Fury is fighting exclusively off of his back foot, but in the final 30 seconds unleashes a nice two-punch. Usyk ends the rounds complaining that he is being hit in the back of the head. It will be interesting to see if Fury leans on his size to try and bully Usyk.
In round four, Fury targets his opponent’s body twice in the opening 30 seconds. Midway through the round, a clash of heads ensues, but there doesn’t appear to be any serious damage. Fury answers with a right uppercut immediately after the pause in action. Usyk unleashes a couple of combinations to the body, and Fury keeps clowning around. As loose as he was, Fury landed the harder shots and caused a small cut near the right eye of Usyk. Fury has outlander Usyk 53 to 48 so far.
In round 5, Fury hits Usyk with a low blow, but the foul is not a debilitating one necessitating a stop in the action. Referee Mark Nelson lets the action continue, and Fury continues to target the body and lands several significant shots. Fury ends the round with a straight right to the top of the temple as well as a left jab and sweeping right while cornered in the ring. Fury is finding his groove.
In round 6, Fury continues to find massive success targeting the body, and he lands several shots to the ribs of Usyk that forces the Ukrainian to wince and backpedal. But the hardest punch Fury landed was a right uppercut. Fury has the most dominant round of the fight so far. Usyk has lost the comfortable flow and range he established in the first two rounds. He needs a Plan B to start the second half of the fight. He could be down four rounds to two.
In round seven, Fury controls the round, highlighted with a right uppercut, but Usyk closes the frame with a strong 20-second finish. Fury’s conditioning has been championship-level so far, while Usyk seems to be slowing down a bit.
In round eight, After eating so many body shots, Usyk answers back with a big left of his own to the beltline of Fury. Usyk follows up and lands a big left that busts the nose of Fury. Another big shot causes a welt underneath the troublesome right eye of Fury. Usyk has a terrific bounce-back round and created a massive change in momentum.
In round 9, Usyk knocks down Fury, A huge left hand hurts Fury and Usyk continues to hammer and batter the Brit, who stumbles around the ring with unsteady feet and nearly collapses in the corner, but the ropes hold him up. Referee Mark Nelson starts a count, officially ruling it a knockdown, and Fury miraculously survives the round as he is saved by the bell.
In round ten, Fury miraculously recovers and gets his legs back under him a bit. But Usyk controls the tempo and pace with his laser-sharp left hand to keep piling on the punches — and the points. Whoever sweeps the last two rounds should win the fight by decision.
In round eleven, The pace of the fight slows down a bit, but Usyk is still landing the harder and more significant shots. He ends the round with a clipping left to the jaw of Fury. Fury is fading.
In final round, With everything on the line, Fury shows some life in the final round. Usyk maintains his composure and lands his lead hand. Fury answers with a big right hand that momentarily stops Usyk in his tracks. Both fighters unleash one last flurry and the final bell rings. They embrace each other, and Fury kisses the top of Usyk’s head. Somehow, Fury survived the deep waters from the ninth-round knockdown to force the fight to go to a decision. But did he win? We go to the scorecards.
