Oleksandr Usyk’s fight against Tyson Fury which takes place on Saturday May 18 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the unification of the heavyweight belts will make the winner the first undisputed world champion in the category for 25 years.
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Crowned world champion six months before the start of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, Oleksandr Usyk hopes to become the sole heavyweight king, buoyed by the support of millions of Ukrainians whose lives have been turned upside down by the war.
Usyk first rose through the ranks at light heavyweight
Before facing Tyson Fury, Usyk, WBA, WBO and IBF champion, had an impeccable record of 21 victories, including 14 before the limit, for no defeats. His last fight: a success by stoppage by the referee against the Briton Daniel Dubois. In the ring of the Wroclaw stadium in Poland, mouthguard and yellow and blue shoes, he dedicated his victory to “(his) country and the Ukrainian army “. As a prelude, the public and viewers were treated to a recorded speech by Volodymyr Zelensky. “ Ukraine fights with the strength you will see, the strength of our people as powerful as Oleksandr Usyk “, declared the Ukrainian president. Because for more than two years, Usyk has had to take on the role of emblem of his country.
Turning professional in 2013, a year after his Olympic title at the London Olympics, Usyk first climbed the ranks at light heavyweight until seizing the unified title in the category in 2018. He then decided to try his luck at heavyweight and finds himself from his third fight, in September 2021, official challenger to Anthony Joshua, holder of the WBA, WBO and IBF belts. In London, in front of 60,000 spectators at the Tottenham stadium, he created a surprise by dethroning Joshua on points and unanimously by the judges.
A victory on Saturday against Fury, holder of the WBC title since 2020, would make him the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis, winner of Evander Holyfield in 1999.
Tyson Fury has already climbed Everest
Tyson Fury, him. holds the WBC world title. The last heavyweight to have unified the world titles of the competing federations which govern boxing was the British Lennox Lewis, in 2000.
The winner of Saturday’s fight will be the first to hold the world championship title from four different boxing federations (Lennox Lewis only had three), but Fury believes he has already achieved his goal in that area too. “ My goal was to be undefeated world heavyweight champion and beat Wladimir Klitschko. Everything else is a bonus “, he assured. “ After beating Klitschko (in 2015), I didn’t even want to box anymore “.
He then stopped for two years. “ I had climbed my Everest, and suddenly achieved the two biggest goals of my life, beating Klitschko and becoming world champion. “, continued the Briton. “ I had nothing left to prove and I said to myself: “If I come back, I want to raise as much money as possible and enjoy every moment“. And that’s exactly what I did “, he added. “ Becoming the undisputed world champion by unifying the belts would be a bonus, and I’ll take it in stride. Just like I would take a million dollars if they gave it to me », Confessed Fury.