Oleksandr Usyk has stunned the world of boxing in defeating Tyson Fury to become the undisputed heavyweight champion.
The hotly anticipated fight attracted some of the world’s biggest stars with Cristiano Ronaldo, Steven Gerrard, Ryan Garcia and Anthony Joshua among those in attendance.
Everybody was expecting a blockbuster encounter with Fury seen as the slight favourite going into the clash due to his size advantage over Usyk.
But the Gypsy King took nothing for granted in his preparations for the fight as he slimmed down drastically to his lightest weight in five years.
Some concerns were raised on whether Fury had lost too much of his huge size advantage over the more diminutive Usyk.
There was no sign of nerves from either fighter as they entered the ring late into the night before the bell finally rang to get the fight underway.
Usyk took the initiative in the opening round as he controlled the centre of the ring with Fury attempting to laugh off the Ukrainian’s accurate blows.
The Gypsy King was on the back foot again to start the second round as Usyk landed a huge one-two and continued pushing Fury back into the corners.
Fury began to look more a bit comfortable in the middle rounds as he began to land more body shots and stepped forward more often.
He continued playing up to the crowd and teasing Usyk and that appeared to grate at the Ukrainian boxer, who had a noticeable cut above his eye in the fifth round.
The teasing stopped in the sixth round as Fury sensed a possible stoppage after landing some big blows that rocked Usyk.
But Usyk turned the tables in the eighth round with a huge left hand drawing blood from Fury’s nose with the bout evenly matched.
It was ruled a knockdown as Fury laid motionless in the corner but he was saved by the bell.
More to follow…
