With the victory, awarded to Usyk by a unanimous panel of judges, he is the first undisputed champion since 1999-2000 when Briton Lennox Lewis held the four titles for five months after beating Evander Holyfield.
Usyk had the best start but Tyson Fury came back and dominated the middle rounds. But in the last two, the Ukrainian Olympic champion sprinted, just as he had done many times earlier in his career.
Two judges gave Usyk the victory by scores of 115–112 and 114–113, while one disagreed and ruled Fury the winner by 114–113.
Fury: I actually won
After the last round, Tyson Fury kissed his opponent on the head and said that he wants a rematch already in October.
-You know, there is war in his country and people live in a country where there is war. But there’s no doubt that I won the match, I think, and I’ll be back. I have a rematch clause, Fury said after the fight.
Usyk took over the WBA, WBO and IBF belts from Britain’s Anthony Joshua in 2021, while Fury holds the WBC belt after defeating American Deontay Wilder four years ago.
Lennox Lewis was stripped of the WBA belt after a contract dispute in April 2000 and lost the other belts to Hasim Rahman a year later.