There was almost no event in the boxing world last year that was more anticipated than this fight: for the first time since 2000, an absolute champion was supposed to appear in the heavyweight class. The last man to win the title was Briton Lennox Lewis, who was stripped of one of his belts 24 years ago for refusing to fight John Ruiz.
Now the belts belong to one person again and this person is Alexander Usik, who defeated Briton Tyson Fury in a magnificent way last night. Although this fight did not take place, many factors had to come into play, from the financial demands of the athletes to the preparations of the competitors. So in February, Fury suffered a deep blow during sparring and the fight was in jeopardy.
However, nothing else happened to prevent the fight, which promised to be among the classic fights of world boxing legends.
Two undefeated boxers entered the ring, and one of them had to take all the available heavyweight belts.
And neither can be considered a clear favourite.
Fury’s antics and Usik’s takedown
Fury wouldn’t be himself if he didn’t start making faces and working for the public from the first round. He didn’t stop grimacing and showing off even after missing the only hard putt in the opening period. However, this did not upset Usik at all and he started the second round with another strike. But Fury reminded that he is not just claiming the title of absolute world champion. He soon began to harass his opponent with punches and defended himself from blows by keeping the Ukrainian at a distance.
In the midst of the fighting it appeared that the British had seized the initiative. His rapid movements around the ring and his efforts to cover the distance had clearly exhausted Usik. There was also a cut above his right eye. In the sixth round, Fury delivered several accurate blows to his opponent’s body – Alexander had a very difficult time with these misses.
But Fury, who started to gain an advantage, could not sustain it and missed so much in the ninth round that he went down. Maybe the fight could have ended early, but Usik did not have time to finish his opponent before the gong came. Sensing Fury’s weakness, Alexander began to put pressure on the Briton in the final rounds to knock him out. But he successfully defended himself, and in the end the winner still had to be determined by the jury.
He gave the victory to Usik by a split decision of 114-113, 113-114, 115-112.
“I’m not thinking of boxing right now”
Fury suffered the first defeat of his career and of course the world boxing community immediately started talking about revenge. The Briton offered to fight again, and Usik accepted. However, at the press conference, the Ukrainian refused to discuss this issue.
“I’m not planning on boxing right now. That means nine months of work as the camp starts in September 2023. I missed the new year, my son’s birthday, another son’s birthday, my daughter’s birthday, another daughter’s birthday, all the family holidays. All the time. I just trained, trained, trained, all my attention was on this fight,” Usik said.
In response, the Briton said that he was the one who won the war. He emphasized that he was happy with the way he played the fight.
“We had a great fight for our fans. I believe I won. I tried to finish him off but the decision was left to the judges. The fight was very close and I enjoyed dancing around it. Was the missed shot a mistake? I don’t know. I’m just happy.”
“I think it was a great fight and believe me, I’m proud of myself.”
Fury said.
“The Baddest Man on the Planet”
The fight caused a strong reaction in the boxing world, as expected. Former boxer and promoter Oscar de la Hoya congratulated the Ukrainian, calling him a “bad guy”.
“Usyk, you are now the baddest man on the planet,” De la Hoya wrote on social networks.
Famous Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao praised the fight, giving credit to both participants. He stated that he would wait for revenge.
“Congratulations to Alexander Usik for becoming the first absolute heavyweight champion in 25 years! A great fight from both, fights like this deserve a rematch,” Pacquiao is confident.
Russian fighter and trainer, Fight Nights Global promotion head Kamil Gadzhiev announced the result of the fight expo. He admitted that he did not sympathize with Usik because of his political statements, but did not dispute his merits in the ring.
“Everything is fit for purpose. I haven’t been able to support Usik lately because he is overrepresented in politics. The soul does not really love him. But from a sporting point of view, he is the king of the heavyweight division,” Gadzhiev reports. “Sports Express”.
What are you thinking?
Source: Gazeta
Gregory Robert is a sports aficionado and a writer for “Social Bites”. He provides in-depth coverage of the latest sporting events and trends, offering a unique and knowledgeable perspective on the world of sports.