Boxing

Fury vs Usyk – ‘Ring of Fire’ summary

1 year ago

| BY News Team

The long awaited and much anticipated bout between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the Kingdom Arena on May 18th.

Below we go through a summary of the fight, how it unfolded and what could be expected next.

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The Build-up

Tyson Fury had it all to prove in this undisputed bout, after scraping past UFC Champion and boxing debutant Francis Ngannou by decision in his previous fight. Fury came through still undefeated but with a big question over the way he won. Usyk on the other hand had been the model of consistency since rising to the heavyweight class sporting an unbeaten record of 22-0-0.

A bounce back from Fury was expected as in the run up to the fight, you couldn’t split the two in the betting for the bout, with both priced at 10/11. Closer to the off, money came for Fury who was sent off as 8/11 favourite, with Usyk at 6/5.

The Fight

The money seemed to be right with Fury back to his usual best in the first round, showboating around the ring and playing to the crowd, displaying the technique and head movement that we’ve become so familiar with. Each judge scored the first round 10-9 in favour of Fury.

The second, third and fourth rounds were more even, with Usyk beginning to find his feet and throwing more punches than he did in the first round.

The fifth round saw Fury begin to take control of the fight, throwing and landing twice as many punches as Usyk and beginning to work the body of his opponent. It was the sixth where Fury began to utilise the uppercut to the body and head of Usyk, again doubling the number of punches landed. All judges deemed 10-9 round victories to Fury in the fifth, sixth and seventh.

The bout only seemed to be heading one way entering the eighth, but Usyk, as he always does, stayed in the fight and was rewarded, catching Fury with big shots to the nose and right eye causing him to bleed. This affected Fury in the ninth round, who faced a series of 14 punches from Usyk to which he had no answer. The flurry included a number of overhand lefts which had Fury rocked and stumbling around the ring, eventually falling back into the corner where he was given a standing count of eight and was scored with a knockdown against him. The bell came in time for Tyson, who you’d have to assume couldn’t have taken any more damage.

It seemed a tall order now for Fury to even make it to the end of the fight, however he displayed the recovery we’ve seen from him before into the back end of the fight, even though it didn’t seem as if Usyk had fully pressed onto the advantage he made.

The 11th and 12th round really showcased the toughness of Fury and the close-matched nature of the bout. Despite the damage Fury took in the ninth, he unanimously won the 12th round giving himself a chance of a decision.

The Result

It was Usyk who won the fight by split decision with the 3 judges scoring the fight 115-112 Usyk, 114-113 Fury and 114-113 Usyk. The Ukrainian was the more efficient fighter landing 42 percent of his shots, also landing 27 more power punches than Fury. The win made Usyk the first undisputed heavyweight champion in 24 years and cemented him as one of the all time greats.