Oleksandr Usyk beats Tyson Fury again in excellent rematch

12/21/2024 06:41 PM

Oleksandr Usyk was once again just a bit too good for Tyson Fury in today's tremendous rematch.

Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury for a second time today in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, scoring a win by unanimous decision to retain his WBC, WBA, and WBO heavyweight titles.

Usyk won by a score of 116-112 on all three judges' scorecards, which was also the unofficial score that Bad Left Hook tallied.

Usyk (23-0, 14 KO) was even better in this fight than he was in their first meeting back in May, but the same can be said of Fury (34-2-1, 24 KO), who was sharp and fought well, but he was just the second-best man in the ring once again.

Fury, 36, loses for the second straight time with this setback, and will have to consider his future in boxing, not because he can't still compete, but because it will become a question of whether there's more for him to prove that's worth the risk of continuing to fight.

Usyk, meanwhile, just further cements his status as an all-time great. He's been undisputed champion as both a cruiserweight and heavyweight, and the clear top man of both divisions during his professional career, while also a highly-decorated amateur with an Olympic gold medal. What he's done in his career is astounding, and his quality is simply unquestionable. Fury fought like he was still the clear second-best heavyweight boxer on the planet, and there were stretches of this fight where the smaller Usyk was in such confident control that it was incredible just to watch him ply the basics of his trade.

Usyk, who will turn 38 in January, will have many options in 2025, including a potential third fight with Fury, which may simply be the biggest money bout available.

Undercard results and notes

19-year-old heavyweight Moses Itauma went to 11-0 (9 KO) with a first round stoppage of Demsey McKean, which is a really nice step-up win at level and very impressive for such a young fighter. Itauma is a heavyweight to keep your eyes on for sure, this is no pretend prospect, he's got power and skills and, it seems, a mental maturity for his age that is beyond what you'd expect. Could be a special fighter.

Super welterweight contender Serhii Bohachuk improved to 25-2 (24 KO) with a stoppage of a game but overpowered Ishmael Davis after six rounds. Davis fought very well early, but got cracked and dropped in round two, and his great effort just wasn't enough. This was a WBC eliminator, so Bohachuk will be in line to face either Sebastian Fundora or the Vergil Ortiz vs Israil Madrimov winner, the latter for the interim WBC title in February.

David Allen had his best performance in years, soaking up early shots from Johnny Fisher before dropping Fisher in the fifth round and taking over the fight from there, only to get the short end of the stick by split decision in the end. Two cards came back 95-94 for Fisher, and one was 96-93 for Allen, which is how we saw the fight, with Fisher winning the first four rounds and Allen the rest.

Wins for Lee McGregor, Peter McGrail, Daniel Lapin, and Andrii Novytskyi.