This past Saturday we saw the biggest heavyweight boxing matchup we’ve seen in that last twenty years. A unified heavyweight champion was crowned as Oleksandr Usyk (22-0) took on “The Gypsy King” Tyson Fury (34-1-1) in Saudi Arabia.
Both men entered the bout as world champions and both men entered undefeated. When the boxing match first started, Usyk was really the one pressing forward and he landed some really good shots in the first round. However, Tyson Fury really started to turn things around in the second.
Fury moved forward more and perfectly mixed up his body and head attacks. He wobbled Usyk a couple of times with big uppercuts. As we entered the second half of the boxing match, it felt like Fury was in total control. However, he let Usyk control the center and it was Usyk pressing forward throughout the whole fight.
The much larger Tyson Fury was against the ropes most of the fight and I really think that hurt him. Usyk regained control of the fight and I had it even going into the ninth. Usyk rocked Fury badly with a left and nearly finished the fight in the ninth. Fury somehow survived and made it very competitive over the final three rounds, but in the end, it wasn’t enough.
Fury thought he did enough to win the boxing match, but two of the judges didn’t agree. In going back and rewatching the fight, I had it six rounds going to each fighter, but the drop in the ninth round was the one-point difference on my scorecard. I agreed with the judge who scored it 114-113 for Oleksandr Usyk.
Boxing Rematch
Tyson Fury has always boxed the best when he’s the fighter moving forward. Using his size to overwhelm his opponents and then using his size to try and fatigue his opponents. In this matchup against Usyk, he was fighting off his back foot too much of the fight. He was still having success, but his best moments featured him being aggressive.
He needed to be the bull in this matchup but he was content on being the matador. Tyson Fury is such a great boxer that he still almost pulled it off, but he wasn’t boxing where he’s at his best. The two men have an automatic rematch that will supposedly take place in October should both men agree to it.
In that fight, Fury has to be the aggressor. Even with how great he is, I don’t love him boxing off the back foot. If the rematch does happen, I expect a much more aggressive Tyson Fury to try and regain the heavyweight title.