The fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury took place for the second time. The meeting took place on the night of 22 December in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Ukrainian defeated the British boxer.
Usyk managed to defend the WBA, WBC, WBO and IBO world titles in the super-heavyweight division. He defeated Fury by unanimous decision. All the referees declared the Ukrainian boxer’s triumph after 12 rounds: 116-112, 116-112, 116-112.
The ‘Gypsy King’ categorically disagreed with the virtual referee’s verdict. The Ukrainian’s victory with a score of 118-112 was recorded by an artificial intelligence judge.
This innovative experiment did not affect the official results of the fight. The results were announced by three referees.
Tyson Fury said he did not agree with the decision. According to him, it is worth creating more jobs for people, not robots.
‘To hell with computers, let people work,’ he explained.
After the fight, Oleksandr Usyk said that the situation was slightly different compared to the first fight. This time, the issue was different, because earlier Oleksandr had given up the IBF title. Now the trophy is owned by the British Daniel Dubois, who has already defended the title by knocking out Anthony Joshua.
‘I won. Today is an important day for me,’ said Usyk.
After his victory, Usyk raised the sabre of Hetman Ivan Mazepa. Social media drew attention to the fact that the Ukrainian boxer turns every victory into a historic event. According to users, the sabre of Mazepa in the hands of the boxer is a reminder to the world of the strength that Ukraine has, as well as the legacy left after centuries of struggle against the enslavers of the Ukrainian people and invaders from neighbouring countries.
The first Usyk-Fury fight took place on the night of 19 May 2024. The Ukrainian won the first match by split decision. At the end of the ninth round, Oleksandr managed to knock his opponent out.
With this victory, Usyk became the first absolute world champion in the super-heavyweight division in the 21st century. He now holds all four major boxing belts – WBO, IBF, WBA and WBC.
Previously, this status was held by Lennox Lewis. He gained this status in 1999 when he managed to defeat Evander Holyfield. Back then, the question was whether he could win the WBA, WBC and IBF titles. In 2007, the WBO belt was recognised as equivalent, so Usyk was the first boxing ‘absolute’ in the history of boxing with four major world titles.
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