An undisputed heavyweight world boxing champion has been crowned.
WBC champion Tyson Fury and IBF, WBA, and WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk fought 12 close back-and-forth rounds Saturday in Saudi Arabia with the judges awarding the win to Usyk via a split decision (115-112, 113-114 and 114-113). Usyk, who was credited with a knockdown in a huge ninth round, handed Fury the first loss of his career and became the first undisputed heavyweight champion in two decades.
“It’s a big opportunity for me, for my family, for my country,” he said in the ring after the fight. "It’s a great time, it’s a great day."
Usyk is no stranger to undisputed titles, having won the undisputed cruiserweight championship before announcing his desire to move to heavyweight. He's coming off big wins over Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois. He earned a knockdown of Fury after wobbling and damaging the former champion in the ninth round.
Fury is coming off a close decision win over former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. He was knocked down in that fight but managed to earn the nod from the judges despite worldwide criticism of his performance and conditioning.
After the loss to Usyk, Fury contested the results.
"I believe I won that fight, I believe he won some rounds but I won the majority of them," Fury said in the ring. "I'll be back with our rematch clause."
The fight between Fury and Usyk was initially scheduled for earlier this year but a cut Fury sustained in training forced the fight to be postponed.
Here's how the entire Usyk-Fury fight and card went.