Oleksandr Usyk improved his record against Tyson Fury to 2-0 in Saudi Arabia on Saturday evening.
The WBA, WBC and WBO heavyweight champion fell and defeated Tyson Fury in May.
Oleksandr Usyk defeated him again in twelve rounds when they played again at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.
All three ringside judges scored the fight 116-112 in his favor, but 'The Gypsy King' was not happy with the result as he thought he had done enough to get revenge.
Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images
The story of Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury 2
Fury's game plan was very clear from the opening bell. The 6-foot-2 giant, who outweighed his opponent by 55 pounds on Friday, wanted to capitalize on his size advantage.
It was a fairly cautious opening frame. Usyk landed the occasional jab, while 'The Gypsy King' mostly missed with big power shots aimed at the Ukrainian's body.
Usyk looked to be powering his way to a 10-9 round in the second, but everything changed in the final seconds when he landed a huge right hand.
A huge bang was heard in the arena and 'The Joker' stood still for a second during a moment of encouragement for his opponent's corner team, who told Fury he had hurt Usyk between rounds.
There were a lot of body shots in round three. Usyk landed tantalizing punches at a higher volume, while Fury connected more powerful hooks less frequently during a three-way frame that was too close to call.
In round four things really started to heat up. Usyk landed a huge left hand to Fury's chin early, but the Englishman landed big punches of his own along the way.
Fury really seemed to find his feet in round five. The 36-year-old pushed his undersized opponents around the ring while landing up and down with regularity.
Usyk prevented a good round from turning into momentum in the sixth stanza. Fury looked a little uncomfortable after being tapped on the chin midway through this back-and-forth affair.
After two easy-scoring rounds, the seventh was much harder to call as the heavyweight duo returned to both with minor success during the three-minute frame.
A fortuitous clash of heads briefly paused the action in an eighth-rounder that went to Usyk. Fury seemed to be tiring as the Ukrainian started putting together his combinations and picking up the pace.
Fury bit his gums and won himself in the ninth round. Body shots seemed to give him a commanding lead before Usyk hit a few eye-catching shots to potentially catch him.
Fury maintained the same energy in round 10. The 288-pound behemoth proved he could maintain his performance down the stretch, while Usyk began to look tired for the first time.
Usyk turned the tide in the first championship round. The 37-year-old pressed forward, landing combinations and even opening a slight cut under Fury's right eye.
Both men let it all hang out in the final round. They went head to head until the final bell rang before they both rode away to claim they were the worthy winners.
Daniel Dubois storms the ring to confront Oleksandr Usyk
Usyk was presented with another rematch who immediately emerged victorious from his replay with Fury.
IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois stormed the ring and demanded a second shot at 'The Joker'.
Dubois was knocked out in nine rounds when he fought Usyk in 2023. He has since scored a career-best win over Anthony Joshua and picked up the title that Usyk was forced to vacate after his first fight with Fury.
'DDD' is booked to defend his title against former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker on February 22.
If he comes through that unscathed, it looks like he'll match Usyk again for all the heavyweight marbles.
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