Tyson Fury lost a fight for the first time to Oleksandra Usyk at the undisputed Heavy Weight Championship boxing fight at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Sunday, May 19, 2024.
It is for the first time in a 16-year professional career that Tyson Fury has lost to someone in boxing’s four-belt era.
Britain’s Fury was the early aggressor but Usyk gradually took the charge and beat the ‘Gypsy King’ after the bell in the ninth round before slumping to his first career defeat.
Reportedly, Ukraine’s Usyk remained undefeated and joined the likes of Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis and Mike Tyson as undisputed heavyweight champion, the first since boxing recognised the four major belts in the 2000s.
With the win, the former undisputed cruiserweight champion can legitimately claim to be the best of this heavyweight era. However, a rematch is expected to be held in October that could provide another twist.
Oleksandra Usyk aged 37, who has also served as a soldier after the Russian invasion said that it is a big opportunity for me, for my family and for my country. He added that it is a great a time, a great day and was ready for a rematch.
Tyson Fury stated it as a fantastic fight with Oleksandra in Riyadh and said, “I believe I won that fight; I believe he won a few of the rounds but I won the majority of them.”
He further added, “You know his country is at war, so people are siding with the country at war but make no mistake, I won that fight in my opinion and I will be back.”
The Two judges scored it for Usyk by scores of 115-112 and 114-113 while the third gave it to ury 114-113. The victory extended Usyk’s professional record to 22-0. After his first loss, Fury stands at 34-1-1.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky led the war effort against Russia for more than two years and posted on social media, “Ukrainians hit hard! And in the end, all our opponents will be defeated.”
Notably, Usyk who adds Fury’s WBC belt to his IBF, WBA and WBO titles looks set to go down as one of the greats after dominating at amateur, cruiserweight and now the top division.
