OLEKSANDR USYK is the deserved undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
A great biggun doesn’t always beat a great littleun, not when David has the weight of a besieged nation on his shoulders and is able to swing each compatriot into every punch.
Usyk did what Usyk does, he moved magnificently, he counter punched and he outworked his taller and heavier opponent.
He somehow manages to use every physical disadvantage to his favour.
But what the hell is Fury doing getting up in round nine?
Why is a father-of-seven with £300million in the bank, three best selling books and a Netflix series going to the well like this?
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Britain is not fighting back Putin’s army, Morecambe is not occupied.
So when the 35-year-old’s senses are scrambled, when the canvas is calling him, when he is so desperate not to be felled he is willing to bounce around all the ropes like a drunk, when he eventually has to collapse into a corner, why doesn’t he just stay down?
He has earned the right to surrender as well as his millions.
His dad’s pantomime rubbish at the start of the week got us talking, his solemn silence and face-off refusal on Thursday got us worried and his Friday flip into thug-mode whet the appetite.
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But the sheer courage and guts and bloody mindedness it takes to climb off that deck, with a broken nose and a crumbling ego is not comprehensible to us mortals.
The three ringside judges called it: 115-112 Usyk, 114-113 Fury and 114-113 split decision.
Fury said he felt he won the fight but was too dignified to call robbery or corruption, no doubt his dad will taint that decency by the time you’ve read this.
The rematch will be superb.
Because for all the love we have for a resurgent Anthony Joshua – who was ringside for that iconic event – for the 18 months Filip Hrgovic has been IBF mandatory challenger and for all the potential Daniel Dubois might possess, these two polar opposite men are head, shoulders, fists, hearts and brains ahead of everyone else.
There is the top two, then there is a void and then there is the rest.
Their entrances, like their personalities and sizes, could not have been more opposite.
Usyk marched into the ring dressed like his favourite 16th century Cossack warrior Ivan Sirko, with a fox fur hat and eagle feathers.
Fury disco danced his way to the ring to Bonnie Tyler’s ‘I need a hero’ complete with a Superman run with his arm aimed at the ring and his dad wiggling around alongside him.
Inside the ropes, while Usyk stuck tight to his blue corner and took on the final instructions, Fury barged past the Ukraine team and tried to goad his foe.
Fusy vs Usyk: Round by round verdict
HERE’S how SunSport’s Chisanga Malata saw the fight as Oleksandr Usyk was crowned undisputed king of the world against Tyson Fury.
ROUND 1
Here we go. Both men look to establish dominance early by taking the centre of the ring.
Fury marches down the Ukrainian, who opens up with a stiff body shot.
The Gypsy King looks massive in comparison to Usyk, who is no dwarf whatsoever.
Usyk is happy to operate on the outside, although the early jab he’s eaten will have given him some food for thought.
Fury is trying to draw out attacks from Usyk, who is not putting too much into his punches.
Fury gets backed into the corner and channels his inner Muhammad Ali by doing the rope-a-dope.
Usyk lands a big overhand left just seconds before backing Fury into the corner.
Fury dodges the ensuing flurry and gestures to the crowd as if demanding them to acknowledge his head movement. USYK 10-9
ROUND 2
Usyk opens up the round with a big one-two that snaps back the head of Fury.
Fury tries to make light of it but that combo clearly stunned him.
Usyk is setting the stone and the pressure as he advances forward.
A big uppercut narrowly misses for Fury, who knows all too well that’s the shot to deploy on a shorter opponent.
Fury is throwing more punches but isn’t being as accurate as Usyk.
Usyk backs up Fury into the corner and lands a good three-punch combo.
But Fury comes roaring back with a hard body shot after circling away from danger.
Fury finally lands an uppercut, albeit to the body of the former cruiserweight king. FURY 10-9
ROUND 3
Fury is on his bike after the restart and lands a stiff straight right from range.
Usyk has decided to close the distance after eating that shot and is going to work on Fury’s trimmed-down torso.
A solid overhand left snaps back the head of Fury with just over a minute of the stanza remaining.
Fury lands a good combo with thirty seconds remaining. But he gets pushed back against the ring again and eats another flurry before the bell. USYK 10-9
Round 4
Fury goes to work to the body with two hard shots after the restart.
He’s absolutely loving this, dancing around after landing his shots.
But he’s still allowing himself to get backed up and invite the pressure from Usyk.
Fury lands a beautiful counter right as Usyk comes forward.
Usyk has his head snapped back by another hellacious uppercut.
Both men nearly land hard back hands before the bell, with Fury narrowly missing an uppercut and Usyk an overhand left. FURY 10-9
Round 5
Usyk takes the centre of the ring after the restart and looks to feint his way into range.
Fury is doing a good job of keeping the Ukrainian at bay when he looks to close the distance.
A rasping uppercut snaps back the head of Usyk.
Fury is hurting Usyk to the body with relentless hooks to the midriff. FURY 10-9
Round 6
Usyk is on the front foot straight after the restart and is looking to put Fury on the back foot again.
A hard body shot to the solar plexus gives Usyk more food for thought.
Fury almost closed the show with a huge uppercut with a minute and a half of the round remaining.
But he finds a home for it 20 seconds later and Usyk is in retreat mode.
Fury closes out the round with a bit of showboating, put his hands behind his back before resting his arms on the ropes.
A huge round for the Wythenshawe warrior. FURY 10-9
Round 7
Usyk once again closes the distance after the restart but he’s getting picked off at range.
And when he does take a step back, his body is getting blasted by nasty hooks.
Usyk finds a home for his straight left but Fury eats it like a packed lunch made by his loving wife Paris.
Another straight left snaps back the head of Fury, who circles back out of range to try to create space for a body shot
Usyk manages to close the distance with seconds remaining ad finds a home for a two-punch combo.
But Fury manages to circle away to hear the bell. FURY 10-9
Round 8
Fury is happy to operate on the back foot in the eighth and pick his shots.
But he gets his dome rattled by back-to-back straight left hands – which he brushes off before going back to feinting and trying to create space for a body shot.
Usyk briefly finds himself dealing with Fury’s weight in the clinch after landing a good straight left.
Fury is bleeding profusely from his nose. I’m not what caused the damage. Big round that for Usyk. USYK 10-9
Round 9
Fury is doing a good job of bamboozling Usyk with feints, but the Ukrainian continues to come forward.
But he’s slowly but surely allowing the gap to be closed, which leads to him eating a big left hand flush in the corner.
Fury gets hurt and is stumbling around the ring. It was a left hand that did the damage.
Fury doesn’t know where he is and is eating a barrage of crisp follow-up shots. He beats the count and the bell thankfully saves him. USYK 10-8
Round 10
Usyk – like the Big Cat he is – senses blood and isn’t giving Fury any respite.
Fury is barely throwing anything and what he is throwing is telegraphed and slow.
Usyk looks tired, but he needs to keep his foot on the gas pedal if he’s to have any chance of becoming a two-weight undisputed champion. USYK 10-9
Round 11
A desperate Usyk, spurred on by the plight of his fellow Ukrainians back home, immediately goes to work after the restart.
Fury tries to keep him at bay with the jab but is struggling to pump it out with the stiffness it had in the early rounds.
Usyk briefly traps the WBC king in the corner and lands a rasping left hand.
Usyk doubles up with two left hands that briefly back Fury against the ropes.
The round ends with yet another big overhand left from Usyk. USYK 10-9
Round 12
The fans in attendance at the Kingdom Arena cheer both warriors on after the final restart of the fight.
Fury is playing matador as Usyk looks to step into range to land his left hand.
And he finds a home for it with a minute and a half of the stanza remaining.
A chopping right hand sends Fury backwards, but he returns fire with a booking shot of his own that backs up the southpaw.
Fury puts his hands behind his back in a bid to goad Usyk to making a sloppy mistake in the closing seconds.
But he stays sharp as he looks to close the distance, which Fury times to initiate a clinch. FURY 10-9
TOTAL Fury 113 Usyk 114
Usyk barely moved from the moment he slipped through the ropes. Fury bounced endlessly and pumped his first to the crowd.
Usyk’s straight lefts to the body were the first meaningful shots and then Fury went full theatre, backed into his corner he grabbed the ropes with his giant wingspan, gave his enemy an open goal and – when he backed off and didn’t shoot – he made an x-rated hand shaking sign.
Moments later, Usyk tagged him with a whack right on the hooter, but he battered his own head and stuck his tongue out for fun.
Fury showed his serious side in the second – barring the moment he pinned both hands behind his own backside – by stiffening up his previously flicked jab and driving in right hands and the odd uppercut.
Usyk felt them but he never ever stopped moving, forwards, sideways, every which way.
For all the love we have for a resurgent Anthony Joshua, these two polar opposite men are head, shoulders, fists, hearts and brains ahead of everyone else.
Wally Downes
Usyk seemed to be wobbled by a shot in the third, his footballer’s legs stiffened for a moment but perhaps it was just a stumble.
The right hand Fury whipped down and up onto his ribcage was unmistakable though, the gut is thought to be Usyk’s weak spot.
Usyk slapped the sweat off Fury’s bald head in the fourth but the 6ft 9in Brit wasn’t hurt, he only showboated and teased even more.
But Usyk was relentless, always racing forward, wave after wave of pressure.
And the whole Kingdom Arena gasped when the pair accidentally clashed heads and had to use their gloves to check for blood.
Fury raced away with the fifth thanks to dozens of body blows at Usyk’s infamously tender torso.
Left and right hooks were slashed into his flanks, he complained twice of them being too low, Fury mocked him and the ref let them slide.
Usyk was hurt in the sixth when a right uppercut from the Morecambe master stiffened his body for a nanosecond.
He regained his senses and got on his bike, Fury chased him with poise and slashed in more body punches and landed another uppercut. It was the clearest Fury round so far.
Seven looked like being another runaway Fury success but he got complacent or casual and shipped left hands in the final 40 seconds which could have swayed the judges back in his rival’s favour.
Usyk smashed a bloody nose onto Fury in the eighth when he got sloppy and careless.
TYSON FURY VS OLEKSANDR USYK AS IT HAPPENED: RELIVE ALL THE ACTION FROM THE UNDISPUTED WORLD TITLE THRILLER
The Traveller tried one too many uppercuts and ate a combination counter.
And then a huge Usyk left hook landed right on the button and his hooter looked to have been shattered as he blew more and more red snot out of it.
Nine was trotting along nicely until Fury was demolished by a left hand and needed to be saved by the bell, he was pinged so perfectly that every inch of his 19st frame bounced around the ring like a toddler.
He was given a count in the corner but bravely continued just as the ding saved him.
Fury’s superhuman recovery skills got him through the tenth, with Gypsy blood rushing up his nostrils and filling his lungs with belief, Usyk chased him around the ring and landed a couple of left hands.
But Fury – for all his theatrics – is a warrior of the highest order.
The penultimate stanza was a breather for the crowd, Usyk hastled and hurried while Fury played the preservation game. It felt like the final three minutes could now settle the last 25 years.
They touched gloves on the bell.
They played cat and mouse and Usyk landed another – perhaps life-changing left hand – Fury coped with it and for the final 10 seconds they slung their hands at each other to little avail.
When the bell rung, Usyk marched back to his corner the same stoic way he stalked in. Fury held his hand aloft to signify another victory.
But they still touched gloves and their warring teams even embraced.
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It was sporting perfection, boxing brilliance. With all due respect; get to the back of the queue everyone else.
These two great men must go again.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
