Oleksandr the Great

AFTER 25 years, pro boxing's heavyweight division has finally produced a single, undisputed champion.Ukraine's Oleksandr Usyk recently bucked the odds and hammered out a hard-earned 12-round split decision victory over Tyson Fury of Great Britain to unify the four major belts in the heavyweight class: the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO championships.Usyk's stunning victory made him the first sole ruler of the heavyweight division since 1999, when Briton Lennox Lewis defeated American Evander Holyfield for the WBA, WBC and IBF titles.Back in 1999, the WBA, WBC and IBF were the three generally recognized bodies in pro boxing and Lewis collaring all three belts opposite Holyfield earned him recognition as undisputed champion.As can be deduced, Usyk's recent coronation is far more special as he became the first undisputed heavyweight champion in the four-belt era (WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO) of boxing.Usyk entered the Fury fight as the defending WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight champion. Fury showed up with only the WBC belt, but boxing historians looked up to the Briton as the lineal champ given that he was the unified WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight champion in 2015 before a slew of domestic issues caused him to go on a sabbatical.As Fury was never beaten as a unified WBA, WBO and IBF champ, he was trumpeted by historians as the unofficial undisputed champ of the division even though he only held the WBC version going into the fight with Usyk. This explains why Usyk agreed to just about every term Fury demanded just for the fight to push through. Usyk knew he had to beat Fury to receive genuine recognition as champion.Usyk pulled off the trick in spectacular fashion. He overcame a slow, shaky start to score a thrilling knockdown in round nine and go on to beat Fury by split decision.Usyk seriously hurt Fury in the ninth round with a huge left. Fury's legs turned into jelly and Usyk proceeded to mercilessly hammer him from post to post.Fury was in dire straits and was only saved from a knockout defeat by referee Mark Nelson. As only the ropes were holding up Fury, referee Nelson stepped in and ruled a knockdown. The intervention was correct as it was only the ropes that were keeping Fury from going down. When this happens, the referee can rule it a knockdown and administer the count.Still, by stepping in just when Usyk was bamboozling Fury, fans thought referee Nelson gave Fury extra seconds to clear his head. There are also those who believe that instead of stepping in and calling a knockdown, referee Nelson should have stopped the fight given that Fury was clearly out.When the smoke of battle cleared, one judge scored it for Fury, 114-113, but his score was overturned by the two remaining judges who scored the fight 115-112 and 114-113 for Usyk.Fury, who absorbed his first loss in 36 fights, insisted he won the fight.In any event, Fury will get a chance at avenging the loss after he told reporters that he is going to exercise the rematch clause in the contract.There is, however, a minor problem in the event the Usyk-Fury rematch pushes through in October.The IBF insists that its No.1 contender, Filip Hrgovic of Croatia, is next in line for Usyk. Nobody really wants to see the fight as the fans are clearlyhankering for a second serving of Usyk-Fury.The IBF has refused to budge. Within the next two weeks, the IBF is expected to strip Usyk of its title, leaving the heavyweight crown fragmented again. The IBF is likely to arrange a fight between Hrgovic and Daniel Dubois for its vacant heavyweight crown, with the winner facing Anthony Joshua.This early, one can already see the winner of the Hrgovic-Dubois fight being looked upon as a joke.The fans and historians know that Usyk is the real IBF champ as he was never beaten or dethroned in the ring. Oh, Usyk had also knocked out Dubois in August 2023. Usyk will still be recognized as the "lineal" IBF heavyweight champ given that he was only stripped of the title.Usyk is the least perturbed as the rematch with Fury will earn him a record purse. Between Hrgovic and Fury, it is the fight with Fury that is more marketable for Usyk.Usyk, 22-0 with 14 knockouts, rewrote the history books with the win over Fury.Usyk was also recognized as undisputed (four-belt) champion in the cruiserweight division in 2018. In the four-belt era, only American Terence Crawford and Japanese Naoya Inoue have been crowned undisputed four-belt champions in two separate weight divisions.Usyk now joins this exclusive group, having been crowned undisputed (four-belt) champion in the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions.