Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk fought to a bloody, exhausted and brutal standstill in a battle for far more than the various championship belts they paraded at the end. In the hot Saudi Arabian night, Usyk needed help to raise his weary arms in victory when he was given a slim split decision ; there was then an unholy scuffle by men in suits to drape their belts across his blood-stained body. It had been 12 rounds of craft and brutality, desperate at times and packed with unforgettable moments.
The men from the sanctioning bodies should have stood their ground and let the great man parade. Fury believed he had done enough, Usyk could barely talk, but there was no abuse of power in that Riyadh ring , just a spectacle that will live for a long, long time in the memories of every witness. They had not celebrated at the final bell, just embraced, hugged, and Fury planted several tender kisses on Usyk’s head.
It was an emotional night, a fight for the right to be called the undisputed heavyweight champion for the first time since Lennox Lewis left a ring in a place called Paradise in 1999. Usyk now has the crown that Lewis has worn since that night. Lewis lost one of his belts a few weeks after his fight for the undisputed championship with Evander Holyfield and, amazingly, the same fate awaits Usyk; the IBF belt is likely to fall vacant in the next week or so.
The wait for the first undisputed heavyweight champion in 25 years is finally over, everybody howled at ringside, but th.