RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Boxing has always been powered by its heavyweight division, and for 24½ years, multiple men have held claims to the sport's top prize.
The sport endured a lengthy but sometimes uneventful reign from Wladimir Klitschko, a unified champion who lacked the proper foe (outside of his brother Vitali, whom he never fought for obvious reasons).
Tyson Fury ended Klitsckho's run as champion in 2015, but even Klitschko wasn't the undisputed champion. One of boxing's four — yes, four — major titles still eluded Fury. On Sunday before a sold-out, impassioned crowd at Kingdom Arena, Fury attempted to collect all four belts against Kiltschko's countryman, Ukraine's Oleksandr Usyk, the Olympic gold medalist who once reigned as undisputed cruiserweight champion.
Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) appeared to be well on his way to victory over the first half of the back-and-forth battle. He played to the crowd, tossing his hands behind his back as he evaded Usyk's punches. «The Gypsy King» grabbed the ropes in the corner and dodged a few shots in the opening round, channeling the great Muhammad Ali. When Usyk sunk in a few solid body punches, Fury smirked.
Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) didn't care. He never allowed Fury's patented mind games to affect him during the promotion in the lead-up to this night, and the 37-year-old wasn't about to let it get to him now. His split decision victory — 114-113, 115-112 and 113-114 — earned him recognition as boxing's top heavyweight.
«It's [a] big opportunity for me, for my family, for my country, for history,» said Usyk, ESPN's No. 3 pound-for-pound boxer. «It's [a] great day.»
The Ukrainian, fighting for his war-torn country, continued to press on. He applied pressure expertly and finally broke
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