Oleksandr Usyk Wins Historic Duel

By William Dumoulin

Photo credit: Top Rank Boxing

It had been several decades since we last had an undisputed heavyweight champion, 25 years to be exact. Numerous attempts had been made to organize a fight with all the heavyweight titles on the line, but without success. It took Saudi Arabia's intervention to organize this mega fight as part of the Riyadh Season. Here is a summary of the event.

In a historic duel, WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) faced Ukrainian and WBA/IBF/WBO/IBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs). In the early rounds, Usyk took control with good body shots and a solid left jab. Fury spent too much time on the ropes and in the corners. However, the Briton began to gain control in the following rounds. His height and weight advantage played a significant role. In the 9th round, the Ukrainian came close to knocking Fury out with powerful left-hand punches that led to Tyson hitting the canvas. The WBC champion was saved by the bell. Competitive rounds followed this exciting round. However, the Ukrainian seemed to have the upper hand in the championship rounds, allowing him to win this historic fight by split decision (115-112, 114-113, 113-114), becoming the undisputed champion of the division.

With such a competitive and exciting match, a rematch is expected to take place by the end of the year, also in Saudi Arabia.

In the co-main event of the evening, Australian Jai Opetaia (25-0, 19 KOs) and Mairis Briedis (28-3, 20 KOs) faced off in a rematch of their 2022 bout. Like last time, the IBF cruiserweight title was on the line, and as in their first encounter, Opetaia won the fight by unanimous decision (117-111, 116-112 x2).

IBF super featherweight champion Joe Cordina (17-1, 9 KOs) attempted to claim the IBO title from Anthony Cacace (22-1, 8 KOs). In the 3rd round, Cacace managed to knock Cordina down. However, he couldn't finish the job in that round. Cacace continued his good work, especially with his uppercut, and eventually stopped Cordina in the 8th round, adding the IBF super featherweight title to his collection.

After a stunning victory over Arskanbek Makhmudov, German Agit Kabayel (25-0, 17 KOs) faced Frank Sanchez (24-1, 17 KOs) in a WBC heavyweight eliminator bout. Kabayel delivered another incredible performance. He applied pressure from the start, pushing Sanchez into the ropes. Kabayel's body shots were devastating against Sanchez, as they had been against Makhmudov. Sanchez ultimately did not get up after his second knockdown in the 7th round.

At 41 years old, former light heavyweight king Sergey Kovalev (35-4-1, 29 KOs) attempted a boxing comeback. On this occasion, he faced Swedish prospect Robin Sirwan Safar (16-0, 12 KOs). Safar performed very well, even knocking Kovalev down and emerging victorious by unanimous decision (95-94, 99-90, 97-92).

Other results of the evening:

Mark Chamberlain (15-0, 11 KOs) defeated Joshua Oluwaseun Wahab (23-1, 16 KOs) by TKO in the first round.

Moses Itauma (8-0, 8 KOs) defeated Ilja Mezencev (25-3, 21 KOs) by TKO in the 2nd round.

David Nyika (9-0, 8 KOs) dominated Michael Seitz (12-1, 10 KOs), winning in the 4th round.

Daniel Lapin (10-0, 4 KOs) demolished Octavio Pudivitr (9-2, 4 KOs) in the first round.

Isaac Lowe (25-2-3, 8 KOs) won by decision (97-92) against Hasibullah Ahmadi (16-2, 5 KOs).