Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury reprise their heavyweight “fight of the century” on Saturday with multiple titles and both fighters’ place in history on the line.
Usyk edged a split decision at Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena in May, handing Fury his sole defeat and becoming the first undisputed champion of the four-belt era.
The unbeaten Ukrainian has exuded his trademark calm before the rematch while the newly bearded Fury, aching for revenge, has veered between moody silence and venomous threats.
Usyk, 37, and his 36-year-old rival were locked in an incredible 11-minute face-off on Thursday that ended with the sweating Fury cursing and hurling insults.
Much like their absorbing duel seven months ago, the first heavyweight unification bout in 25 years, Saturday’s return to the 22,000-seat venue is difficult to call.
Usyk, formerly an outstanding amateur and an Olympic champion, is 22-0 including 14 knock-outs and was undisputed cruiserweight champion before uniting the heavyweight belts within six fights.
The intelligent, mobile southpaw throws his array of shots with unerring accuracy, while supreme fitness makes him notoriously dangerous in the closing rounds.
Although the scoring was tight in May, he had Fury in serious trouble in the ninth when the buckling Briton took a standing eight count before being saved by the bell.
“Gypsy King” Fury, however, is a natural boxer with the instinctive ring smarts of a man who hails from generations of bare-knuckle champions.
The 6ft 9ins (206cm) Lancastrian comes in at 281 pounds (127.4kg) fully clothed, the heaviest of his career, indicating intent to dominate a man who is six inches shorter and 55 pounds lighter.
Fury also boasts a strong record in rematches, after prevailing convincingly in his trilogies against Derek Chisora and Derek Chisora.
– ‘You can’t write him off’ –
“It’s a hard one to say because if I’m a betting man, I would pick Oleksandr Usyk,” Dillian Whyte, who lost to Fury at London’s Wembley in April 2022, told Sky Sports.
“But I know from history and seeing Fury fight and knowing his resolve, and being in camp with him and fought him and seen that he has always bounced back.
“It’s hard to go against him because you can’t just write him off. You think he’s finished, he’s not going to come back, and then he just comes back and produces the goods.”
One question that hangs over Fury (34-1-1) is his conditioning after a personal life that has touched the depths of alcoholism, substance abuse and depression.
Crimea’s Usyk, meanwhile, is a model professional and comes fired by patriotic fervour as Ukraine approaches three years since the Russian invasion.
By beating Fury, “The Cat” joined the likes of Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis and Mike Tyson as undisputed heavyweight champion, and the first since Lennox Lewis in 1999.
If Fury, the bookies’ slight underdog, brings Usyk’s reign to an end, he would become only the sixth three-time heavyweight champion, a bracket that includes Hall-of-Famers Ali, Lewis and Vitali Klitschko, the last man to achieve the feat in 2008 and now mayor of Kiev.
Only the WBA, WBO and WBC belts are now on the line after Usyk, focused on the lucrative rematch, relinquished his IBF title rather than face challenger Daniel Dubois.
Reports put the prize purse at an increased $190 million with Usyk, as defending champion, expected to receive the bigger share — a reversal of fortunes from May.
The fight sits high in the portfolio of Saudi Arabia’s oil-funded push into sports, which has drawn accusations of “sportswashing” its dubious human rights record.
After Formula One, the LIV Golf tour, Newcastle United and a swathe of ageing football stars, the conservative kingdom’s strategy confirmed its crowning moment this month when it was awarded football’s 2034 World Cup.
th/bsp
