Oleksandr Usyk certainly understood the magnitude of the biggest event of his storied career.

It said a lot, considering he won an Olympic Gold medal during 2012 London and fully unified the cruiserweight division during his 2018 Fighter of the Year run.

Already a two-division RING champion, the opportunity to bcome the first fully unified heavyweight king in 25 years was another matter entirely.

Usyk rose to the occasion, as did Tyson Fury in their May 18 battle of unbeaten heavyweight rulers. The fight ticked every box—The Ring championship and every major heavyweight title at stake; unbeaten fighters who were by far the best two in their division; and a Fight of the Year entry born from the night at Kingdom Arena in Saudi Arabia.

The attention paid to the fight and the show as a whole—which boasted The Ring cruiserweight championship and a junior lightweight title clash amidst a ten-bout show—justified its selection as The Ring’s 2024 Event of the Year.

Usyk accepted the award as part of The Ring’s inaugural awards ceremony Saturday evening at Old Royal Naval College in London.

Knockout Chaos (Anthony Joshua-Francis Ngannou)

Naoya Inoue Luis Nery at Tokyo Dome (first boxing event at venue in 34 years)

Terence Crawford-Israil Madrimov (Riyadh Season US Launch)

Riyadh: Wembley Edition (Daniel Dubois-Anthony Joshua)

Seven Title Fight Weekend in Tokyo (Oct. 13-14)