Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk: The Long-Awaited Showdown for the Undisputed Heavyweight Championship
The heavyweight division in boxing has been buzzing with anticipation as two of its top contenders, Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, are finally set to face each other in the ring on Saturday, May 18, at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This highly-anticipated match is set to determine the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999 and the division’s first undisputed champion in the four-belt era.
The undercard will commence at noon ET, with the main event ringwalks expected to start at 6 p.m. ET. DAZN will broadcast the fight worldwide, and viewers in the US can watch it on ESPN’s pay-per-view service. Sky Sports and TNT Sports will show the fight in the UK via their respective pay-per-view platforms.
A fight between Fury and Usyk has been a long-time coming. In one corner, we have Fury, who has taken on an impressive roster of heavyweight champions like Wladimir Klitschko, Dillian Whyte, and a trilogy against Deontay Wilder, to become the WBC heavyweight titleholder. In the other corner stands Usyk, who made headlines by dominating the cruiserweight division and then moving up to heavyweight. He won and defended the WBO, WBA, and IBF titles against Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois.
Despite fans’ demands for the best to fight one another, negotiations for Fury-Usyk began in March 2023 with reports of both camps reaching terms for an April fight. However, the highly anticipated showdown faced several postponements. Initially, the fight was scheduled for December 23 but was delayed until February 2024 due to Fury’s unexpectedly challenging bout against former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. Just on the eve of the second scheduled date, it was postponed once more due to a “freak cut” Fury sustained during sparring. The Ukrainian had also missed the birth of his daughter due to his preparations for the fight. Despite these setbacks, the long-awaited match is finally taking place.
The stakes are high in this encounter beyond just the four heavyweight world titles. The winner will not only be crowned one of the greatest heavyweights of his generation but also risk undefeated records. Fury boasts a 34-0-1 record, while Usyk is unbeaten with 21 wins.
With the third-ranked pound-for-pound boxer in The Ring magazine, Usyk, standing at 6 feet 3 inches and a reach of 78 inches, he faces the formidable challenge posed by Fury, who stands at 6 feet 9 inches with an extended reach of 85 inches. This tactical performance is expected to be a test of each fighter’s ability to find weaknesses in their opponent’s armor.
At the press conference in Riyadh, Fury delivered a message to Usyk: “God bless him. I’ll say a prayer for him before the fight and for us both to get out of the ring safely.”
This highly-anticipated heavyweight championship bout is sure to be a thrilling event that promises to live up to the hype. Stay tuned for more updates and analysis leading up to this epic showdown!
