Tyson Fury collapses against Oleksandr Usyk in wild drama
Tyson Fury has been beaten for the first time after an enthralling, controversial comeback fight that left the former world champion fuming.
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The first undisputed heavyweight title fight in 25 years lived up to the hype of being one of the great events in modern boxing as Tyson Fury suffered his first career defeat on Sunday morning.
Oleksandr Usyk is the first heavyweight to hold all the major belts since Lennox Lewis after an extraordinary split decision win over Fury in Saudi Arabia.
Usyk had waited a long time to get his first shot at Fury and he has now shown himself to be the baddest man on the planet.
In a sign of how much damage each fighter took, Usyk was taken to the hospital after celebrating in the ring. Despite smiling and posing for photos with his new belt, Usyk needed help to walk to his dressing room and is reportedly being treated for a potential broken jaw.
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While Usyk had to be rushed to the hospital, Fury fronted reporters for the post fight press conference looking battered and bruised.
Usyk was down on the judges’ scorecards mid-way through the fight, but he dominated the later rounds and knocked Fury to the floor in the ninth round.
The Ukrainian was awarded the split victory (115-112, 113-114, 114-113).
Usyk, the former undisputed cruiserweight world champion, now joins Terence Crawford and Naoya Inoue as the only three male fighters in the modern era to be unified champions of multiple weight classes.
Fury will likely get another chance to join the trio after his promoter Frank Warren said after the fight there was a re-match clause in place for the Usyk-Fury bout and believes a re-match is already being planned for October.
There had earlier been wild scenes during face-off on Saturday when members of the boxers’ entourages had to step in when things got heated.
Meanwhile, Aussie Jai Opetaia earlier re-claimed his IBF cruiserweight title in the co-main event on the “Ring of Fire” card in Saudi Arabia.
10am - Fury unhappy with judges’ cards
Tyson Fury insists he won the fight, despite replays showing he was lucky to avoid being knocked out in the dramatic ninth round.
Usyk was in trouble and on wonky legs in the fifth round, but one punch in the ninth round completely flipped the script.
It was Fury that needed to come out strong in the 12th round, but his late burst didn’t do enough to convince the judges.
Not many boxing commentators were critical of how the fight was scored, but the 35-year-old was filthy when interviewed in the ring after the fight.
“I believe I won that fight. He won a few rounds, but I won the majority of them,” he said.
“What can you do? It’s one of those classic decisions in boxing. We both put on a good fight. The best we could do.
“You know, his country is at war so people are siding with the country at war. Make no mistake, I won that fight in my opinion. I’ll be back.”
He confirmed there is a re-match clause in place and said there will be a re-match soon.
Fury may not have liked the result, but preliminary fight stats showed Usyk did the most damage, landing 170 punches compared to Fury’s 157.
Tyson Fury just said people are siding with Usyk because his country is at war😳#FuryUsykpic.twitter.com/lKi5WrtpxV
— The 44 âš½ï¸ (@The_Forty_Four) May 18, 2024
Ukrainian great Wladimir Klitschko said the win makes Usyk the best fighter in “modern history”.
“This historical win is not just important for Oleksandr Usyk (but also for his country),” the former heavyweight champion said.
“Imagine how much pressure he had the last few weeks, and in that ring. A loss was not an option.
“Oleksandr showed he is the best fighter in modern history.”
As expected, most boxing commentators around the world were stunned by the spectacle.
Robbie Fox wrote: “I can’t believe how many times Fury got hit and popped right back back like an inflatable punching bag there.”
Amy Kaplan wrote: “INSANITY!”
Justin Russo wrote: “USYK OMG.”
Ariel Helwani wrote: “HOLY S***.”
9.30am - Fury collapses, ‘completely gone’
Tyson Fury was saved by the bell as he collapsed into the ropes at the end of the ninth round.
The champion was rocked by a combo punch from Usyk and the stumbled around the ring as he was barely able to stay on his feet.
After crashing into the ropes for a second time, Fury’s fall was ruled to be a knock down, stopping Usyk in his tracks.
A DAZN boxing commentator said the world had “never seen” Tyson Fury so beaten up before.
“I’ve seen him down. I’ve seen him hurt before, but nothing like this,” he said.
“This was incredible.”
Another member of the commentary team said Fury was “completely gone”.
Fury appeared to recover somewhat in the 11th round, but it was still Usyk on top.
In a dramatic comeback from Fury’s earlier dominance, it is likely that Usyk leads 105-103 on the judges’ cards.
9.20am - Usyk wobbled before big comeback
Oleksandr Usyk opened up an ugly cut on Tyson Fury’s face as he started to dominate in the eighth round
Round 6 was Tyson Fury’s best of the fight with two uppercuts slipping through.
Oleksandr Usyk appeared stunned after the bigger fighter’s uppercut snuck through and landed flush on his chin.
It was a punch that Fury had been looking to set up with his barrage of jabs.
Usyk recovered, but just briefly appeared to be on shaky legs.
The next round was even with Usyk landing some good shots late.
9am - Drama in early round exchanges
Oleksandr Usyk was on top in the early exchanges, but it was Tyson Fury that won the crowd.
The English fighter danced in the ring and then pretended to do a Muhammad Ali-inspired rope-a-dope as he dodged his opponent’s shots on the ropes early in the fight.
Usyk had landed a good three-punch combo in the second round, but Fury came roaring back with a hard body shot after circling away from danger.
Fury got his jab working in the fourth round and opened up a cut on his opponent’s eye.
He again kept Usyk at a comfortable distance in Round 5 and dominated the exchanges.
The act divided commentators with some suggesting it was a sign Fury had let his nerves get the better of him.
Sky Sports’ John Dennen said from the venue: “Surely only Fury could showboat in the opening round of the fight of the century.
“Fascinating to see him rush out to claim the centre of the ring, but do his showboating when he’d been moved into a corner. Fury either looks relatively comfortable, or he’s trying to make it look like he’s comfortable.”
8.15am - Jai Opetaia wins after wild, late drama
Jai Opetaia has ended the curse of Australian boxing, winning his cruiserweight title fight in dramatic scenes on Sunday.
In a highly-anticipated re-match Opetaia looked like he was going to waltz to a unanimous decision before everything changed in the tenth round when he was rocked by a headbutt.
In a wild contest, both fighters had their noses broken.
The first big moment of the fight came in Round 3 when Opetaia trapped his opponent on the ropes with a flurry of shots.
The exchange with the referee separating the fighters and Briedis throwing an illegal punch to the back of Opetaia’s head.
It didn’t do anything to stop Opetaia’s momentum, as he continued to dominate in the third round.
Briedis did land a big shot in the fourth round, but the Australian was still the more active fighter and most experts scored the first five rounds all for Opetaia.
The Aussie enjoyed a big moment in the sixth round with a crushing short left hand that appeared to break his opponent’s nose.
Opetaia methodically tried to go for the kill after the shot, but Briedis survived to the bell.
It was sweet vengeance for Opetaia, who had his nose broken during their first meeting in 2022.
It was again one-way traffic in the seventh round with Opetaia continuing to look comfortable in the exchanges.
Opetaia appeared satisfied to take his foot off the gas heading into the championship rounds having likely won all of the first nine rounds.
However, the fight took a violent twist in Round 10 when Briedis flipped the script with a savage uppercut shot.
Suddenly Opetaia looked stunned and eventually fell forwards onto his hands in the final seconds of the round.
It was Briedis that dominated Round 11 and suddenly it was Opetaia’s face that was covered in blood.
Briedis also won the final round, but it was too little too late.
Opetaia was awarded the victory via a unanimous judges decision (117-111, 116-112 x2).
“He headbutted my nose. It is broken. We’ll get this fixed,” Opetaia said after the fight.
“We’ll line the next fight up and we’ll be back soon.”
He went on to say with a mock smile: “I broke his nose. He broke my nose. We just kept on punching.”
6.30am - Shocking knockouts rock undercard
Two fighters needed to receive oxygen in the ring after scary knockouts earlier during the preliminary fights on Sunday morning.
Frank Sanchez was knocked out by Agit Kabayel in the seventh round of their heavyweight bout and there was concern for him when his camp called for him to receive some medical assistance.
— FIGHTZCENTER (@fightzCenter) May 18, 2024
As reported by The Sun, the Cuban required medical attention inside the ring immediately after being brutally stopped.
That included doctors administering first aid by putting him on oxygen.
German Kabayek, 31, watched on concerned as he took on water following the bout.
His flurry of massive body shots proved the undoing for Sanchez as he eventually succumbed to the pressure and went down on the canvas.
Earlier, teen freak Moses Itauma knocked out Ilja Mezencev and then celebrated by dancing around the ring.
The KO left Mezencev needing treatment inside the ring.
6am - Fury’s strange weigh-in tactic
Tyson Fury shoved and swore at Oleksandr Usyk at the weigh-in on Friday as the build-up to their historic undisputed heavyweight clash exploded into life.
A shirtless Fury eyeballed the Ukrainian and then pushed him angrily, sparking a brief melee on stage, before hurling a series of F-bombs at his opponent.
“We’re ready to rock and roll, so fireworks tomorrow night. I’m going to knock this little f***er spark out,” raged the 35-year-old Brit, drawing cheers from the crowd.
“I’m coming for his heart, that’s what I’m coming for. F*** his belts. I’m coming for his f***ing heart, he’s getting it tomorrow, spark out. F*** him, f*** all his team too. F*** the lot of them, they can all get it if they wanted to. S**thouses.”
Things became so heated on the stage as both men began shouting at one another with members from both teams forced to step in and separate the two.
Fury weighed in at 262 pounds (118.8 kilos), more than 15lb lighter than his last outing, while Usyk was 233.5lb, significantly heavier than his customary 221lb.
Fury vs Usyk card
Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk for the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO heavyweight titles
Jai Opetaia vs. Mairis Briedis for the vacant IBF cruiserweight title
Joe Cordina (c) vs. Anthony Cacace for the IBF super featherweight title
Frank Sanchez vs. Agit Kabayel; Heavyweight
Moses Itauma vs. Ilija Mezencev; Heavyweight
Mark Chamberlain vs. Joshua Wahab; Lightweight
Sergey Kovalev vs. Robin Sirawn Safar; Light heavyweight
Daniel Lapin vs. Octavio Pudivtr; Light heavyweight
David Nyika vs. Michael Seitz; Cruiserweight
Isaac Lowe vs. Hasibullah Ahmadi; Featherweight
Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk information
The main card kicked off at 2am (AEST) with the main event expected to begin at around 8am.
Australian Jai Opetaia will square off against Mairis Briedis in the main fight on the undercard which is expected to take place close to 8am.
Fans can catch the blockbuster card on DAZN with the pay-per-view event costing $34.99.
Originally published as Tyson Fury collapses against Oleksandr Usyk in wild drama
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