In the most highly anticipated rematch of the year, Oleksandr Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) defended his WBC, WBA and WBO Heavyweight titles to defeat Tyson Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs) for the second time in 2024 with a 12 round unanimous decision victory (116-112, 116-112, 116-112) from the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Both fighters displayed superb conditioning over the entire fight, setting a frenetic pace with constant action. While Fury had his moments in almost every round and out-throwing Usyk by over 80 total punches, the champion proved to be the more consistent of the two, landing 50% of his power shots, including many overhand lefts. Entering the final rounds, Fury’s corner urged their boxer that he needed to finish strong, but Usyk seemed to have an answer for everything the Gypsy King brought his way.
When asked if he thought the judges' scorecards were correct, Usyk stated “I’m not the judges, I’m an athlete. It’s not my decision, I win. Thank you, God.”
Usyk’s strength and quickness in the later rounds were evident, to which he commented “I’ve been training, good preparation. Listen, today for me is a very happy day. My sons won their Judo competitions today. My son talked to me and said ‘Hey, Papa, you’re next.’ I said I will try.”
With Usyk having now seen Fury for 24 rounds, the victorious Ukrainian exclaimed “He’s a great fighter, he’s a great opponent. It was a great 24 rounds. I want to devote this victory to my mother. She’s worried about me all the time, and I want to say to her thank you very much for everything you’ve done for me. I devote this to her and all mothers of Ukraine.”
After Daniel Dubois came into the ring to verbally challenge Usyk, the Heavyweight Champion was unphased, simply stating, “No problem. I am ready. I want to be home for a little rest, but I’m ready.”
On the broadcast following the bout, Matchroom Sport chair Eddie Hearn shared “I couldn’t split them and I thought the fight was a draw. I really struggled to split them, it was more of a chess match tonight. Usyk did dominate more in the second half of the fight, like we said he would. I thought it was very close, but consistency from the judges is good to see, but I found it very hard to pick a winner.”
In the co-main event of the evening, Moses Itauma of Chatham, England (11-0, 9 KOs) faced Demsey “The Tower” McKean of Gold Coast, Australia (22-2, 14 KOs) in a 10 round clash for the WBO Intercontinental, vacant WBA International and vacant Commonwealth Silver Heavyweight Championships. 19-year-old Itauma wasted little time as he overpowered McKean to secure an impressive first round TKO (1:57), his ninth career stoppage victory of his young career. The teenager continues his quest to break Mike Tyson’s record as the youngest heavyweight champion in history — a record which Iron Mike set in 1986 at 20 years, 4 months, and 22 days.
Former WBC 154-pound interim titleholder Serhii Bohachuk (25-2, 24 KOs) of Vinnytsia, Ukraine, dropped Ishmael Davis (13-2, 6 KOs) with a right punch to the body followed by a left hook to the head in round 2 before continuing to overwhelm the Yorkshire native. Fighting for survival for the remainder of the contest, Davis’ corner retired their man after 6 rounds. Bohachuk landed 108 total power punches to Davis’ 54. The bout was a final eliminator for the WBC Super Welterweight Championship, which will now see Bohachuk challenge champion Mario Barrios.