Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine has been crowned the undisputed World Heavyweight Boxing Champion after beating Britain’s Tyson Fury on points in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
It was a split decision with two of the judges ruling in favour of the Ukrainian and one taking Fury’s side.
It was a tough battle and a close encounter. The two judges who gave it to Usyk scored the fight 114-113 and 115-112, while the judge who ruled in Fury’s favour determined a 114-113 scoreline.
Fury got the better of the early exchanges but the key moment that swung it in the Ukranian’s favour came in the ninth round.
Usyk nearly knocked his opponent to the floor and Fury was forced to take a standing count.
Usyk is now the first undisputed heavyweight champion in nearly 25 years since Lennox Lewis.
Usyk says, “My focus was only this fight. Now, I’m happy, I wanna go back home, go to my church, pray, I wanna say Jesus, thank you! Because for me and my country, it’s a big opportunity.”
Fury was convinced that the judges would rule in his favour.
“I believe that I thought, I’d done enough (to win) but you know I’m not a judge. I can’t judge a fight while I’m boxing it. You know if they would’ve said to me in the last round or whatever, you’re down, go out and try and finish him, I would’ve done that. But, we believed, everyone in the corner believed we were up. You know all I had to do was just keep boxing, do what I was doing, and you know I thought we were getting it but it was what it was, I’m not gonna cry about spilled milk, I’ve had plenty of victories and I’ve got the glory, I’ve had this one loss in a close fight you know with a good man like Usyk, and it was what it was. I tried my best in there.”
A rematch is already on the cards and is set for 12 October this year in Saudi Arabia.
