All eyes were on Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday night as Ukrainian, Oleksandr Usyk and England’s Tyson Fury put on a true battle for the ages. The highly awaited contest went back and forth, but the judges eventually hand the Undisputed championship of heavyweight boxing to Usyk after clearly winning on points. Now that the dust is settling after this seismic event, M&F takes a look at some of the numbers behind the Usyk vs Fury event.
Usyk undoubtedly won enough rounds to be handed the majority verdict, with many feeling it should have been a unanimous verdict. In becoming the first Undisputed Champion of boxing in 25 years, the stats behind the action make for fascinating reading. The fight began with 35-year-old Fury seemingly gaining control in the course of the opening rounds. Often, rounds are handed to the fighter that moves forward and does the most work, but this doesn’t always take into account those sporadic power punches that can add up and do some serious damage as the fight goes on. While Fury had landed 25 jabs to Usyk’s 14 in those first 3 rounds, the 37-year-old Ukrainian had actually landed 21 power punches to Fury’s 12.
And, while Fury appeared to be dominating his smaller opponent, leveling up the power punches too, Usyk’s ability to weather the storm and swallow 2 solid upper-cuts in round 6 kept him in the fight despite many observers feeling that the odds were against him. Everything changed by round 9 however, as only the ropes and the corner post prevented “The Gypsy King” from hitting the mat.
While Fury miraculously got back into the fight, he was beginning to hemorrhage points in the second half of the fight. Perhaps because the first half had been more or less his, or because of his trademark bravado, Fury initially questioned the final verdict when it came in after an nail-biting final round, but the stats tell a different story. “The Cat” landed 170 punches in total on Tyson Fury. That’s the most blows that the Englishman has ever taken in a bout, breaking Otto Wallins record of 127 fists to Fury.
Oleksandr Usyk Becomes Undisputed Heavyweight Champion of Boxing
Usyk was not the favorite to win as far as the bookmakers were concerned. The former cruiserweight dominator is 2 years older than Fury and gave up 6 inches in height. His reach is 7 inches less than Fury’s, but while both men were undefeated, Usyk had boxed professionally on 21 occasions against Fury’s 34 outings. Fury also boxed most recently, giving Usyk and extra 2 months for recovery and preparation for a new opponent.
Oleksandr Usyk now stands before you as the WBC, WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO champion, making him the undisputed kingpin of heavyweight boxing. Despite weighing in at his heaviest ever, 224 pounds (16 stones), Usyk was still 38 pounds (2.7 stones) lighter than his bigger foe. Still, it’s like the champ says, “If size matters, then the elephant would be the king of the jungle!”
