The last month of boxing has been an embarrassment of riches for fans: Garcia - Haney was a great bout, Canelo-Munguia was an old-fashioned Mexicano guerra (that means 'war' for those Mexicans like my friend and colleague Tavis who cannot speak any Spanish), and the cherry on top was this afternoon's battle between the Gypsy King and reigning heavyweight champion Tyson Fury against undefeated Oleksandr Usyk way across the pond in Saudi Arabia.
This was arguably the biggest boxing match of the century, as we have not seen a unified heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in the late 90s. The week leading up was fun, Tyson Fury's dad headbutted one of Usyk's henchmen, and the boys looked good at the weigh in. For those who missed the PPV this afternoon, here is what went down in grainy screenshots from the event:
First thing we notice in Riyadh is the clientele - this was the co-main event beforehand, which turned out to be a solid bout, but the crowd was/is relatively low energy. The Saudis are investing big time in heavyweight boxing, but it's a little tough when all of the higher ups in the kingdom want to sit ringside in hear silence. Does it hurt the fan experience slightly? Yes indeed. Do I wish this fight was in Vegas? Indeed I do. But ya gotta take what you can get, and the fact this fight was even happening was a huge win for boxing.
Before the actual fight, there was somewhat of a performance from a rapper - the Saudis seem to think this is cool in the 5 or so shows I've seen them put on in the last year and a half with the heavyweights, but it comes off as a bit of a snoozefest - it's almost 2:00 AM local time when the main event starts, let's get along with the show.
Next up we had the actual ring walks - to which Usyk completely dominated. He had on a great getup, was looking like an intense wildman, and ready to get to business. No Deontay Wilder from Feb. 2020 move pulled here... dude was ready to go! He also stepped completely over the ropes upon getting into the ring, big time power move that did not go unnoticed.
The Gypsy King came out in a more jovial mood - fast and loose, dancing a bit, not much of a costume. I cannot say I was a huge fan of the skirt instead of shorts - feel like that always looks dumb. But Tyson came into the fight in best shape he has in a long time, so we'll give the big man some credit.
Michael Buffer is pushing 80 and still looks and sounds damn good - all he needs next time around is a Sartoro suit and he'll be even that much more electric.
The fight began and Fury was controlling the distance and the center of the ring - Usyk landed a solid left hand over the top to end round 1, and clearly pushed the pace in round 2, but rounds 3-6 were clearly to Fury, as he landed some solid rights to the body and chin.
The second half of the fight was a different story... if you've made it this far in the blog, you are a friend of the program, so you get the pleasure of seeing this 9th round flurry from Usyk in video format:
One of the wildest sequences I've seen in all my years of watching boxing - how does this ref call it a knockdown/standing 8 and not a stoppage? In any other fight I've seen outside of the amateurs, this is a TKO when the ref steps in and ends the onslaught. This is the exact reason we see guys taking knees during their fights - to prevent the TKO. But this was somehow a different ruling? Crazy... the bell rang shortly after Fury survived the count and knowing Tyson, he was unfazed within another 15 seconds or so (somewhat facetious but the dude's recuperation power is unmatched.)
This was when, at least on the OneTake Media unofficial scorecard, Usyk began to make his move and take the lead. The last 3 rounds came out to a solid battle, and I had it 114-113 for Usyk.
The judges all had similar cards, and Usyk came out victorious by split decision:
Excited to see this rematch in the fall - hope Fury comes back with a little more build in his lower body - for the heavyweight champion, dude is walking around on stilts out there.
Klitschko has gotta be pumped on this one - eight and a half years ago, it was Fury who defeated him for the lineal heavyweight title in an awkward match. Ukraine now has the heavyweight title once again - perhaps Usyk can fund a portion of the next round of investment from the U.S. for the war effort? Our budgets are not looking too well balanced these days...
Good fight - the sport of boxing is very much alive and well. Now give the people Canelo - Benavidez for Mexican independence day in September, this rematch, Inoue - Lomachenko, and Garcia - Spence. Truckin!
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