Usyk Defeats Fury in Rematch

In the most highly anticipated rematch of the year, Oleksandr Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) defended his WBC, WBA and WBO Heavyweight titles to defeat Tyson Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs) for the second time in 2024 with a 12 round unanimous decision victory (116-112, 116-112, 116-112) from the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Both fighters displayed superb conditioning over the entire fight, setting a frenetic pace with constant action. While Fury had his moments in almost every round and out-throwing Usyk by over 80 total punches, the champion proved to be the more consistent of the two, landing 50% of his power shots, including many overhand lefts. Entering the final rounds, Fury’s corner urged their boxer that he needed to finish strong, but Usyk seemed to have an answer for everything the Gypsy King brought his way.

When asked if he thought the judges' scorecards were correct, Usyk stated “I’m not the judges, I’m an athlete. It’s not my decision, I win. Thank you, God.”

Usyk’s strength and quickness in the later rounds were evident, to which he commented “I’ve been training, good preparation. Listen, today for me is a very happy day. My sons won their Judo competitions today. My son talked to me and said ‘Hey, Papa, you’re next.’ I said I will try.”

With Usyk having now seen Fury for 24 rounds, the victorious Ukrainian exclaimed “He’s a great fighter, he’s a great opponent. It was a great 24 rounds. I want to devote this victory to my mother. She’s worried about me all the time, and I want to say to her thank you very much for everything you’ve done for me. I devote this to her and all mothers of Ukraine.”

After Daniel Dubois came into the ring to verbally challenge Usyk, the Heavyweight Champion was unphased, simply stating, “No problem. I am ready. I want to be home for a little rest, but I’m ready.”

On the broadcast following the bout, Matchroom Sport chair Eddie Hearn shared “I couldn’t split them and I thought the fight was a draw. I really struggled to split them, it was more of a chess match tonight. Usyk did dominate more in the second half of the fight, like we said he would. I thought it was very close, but consistency from the judges is good to see, but I found it very hard to pick a winner.”

In the co-main event of the evening, Moses Itauma of Chatham, England (11-0, 9 KOs) faced Demsey “The Tower” McKean of Gold Coast, Australia (22-2, 14 KOs) in a 10 round clash for the WBO Intercontinental, vacant WBA International and vacant Commonwealth Silver Heavyweight Championships. 19-year-old Itauma wasted little time as he overpowered McKean to secure an impressive first round TKO (1:57), his ninth career stoppage victory of his young career. The teenager continues his quest to break Mike Tyson’s record as the youngest heavyweight champion in history — a record which Iron Mike set in 1986 at 20 years, 4 months, and 22 days.

Former WBC 154-pound interim titleholder Serhii Bohachuk (25-2, 24 KOs) of Vinnytsia, Ukraine, dropped Ishmael Davis (13-2, 6 KOs) with a right punch to the body followed by a left hook to the head in round 2 before continuing to overwhelm the Yorkshire native. Fighting for survival for the remainder of the contest, Davis’ corner retired their man after 6 rounds. Bohachuk landed 108 total power punches to Davis’ 54. The bout was a final eliminator for the WBC Super Welterweight Championship, which will now see Bohachuk challenge champion Mario Barrios.

In a classic back-and-forth brawl, Johnny “The Romford Bull” Fisher (13-0, 11 KOs) overcame hitting the canvas for the first time in his career to secure a split decision win (95-94, 93-96, 95-94) over Dave “White Rhino” Allen (23-7-2, 16 KOs) of Doncaster, England for the vacant WBA Intercontinental Heavyweight championship. The fight was in Fisher’s favor until round 5, when the veteran Allen stunned the younger fighter with a clubbing right hand. From that round on, Allen landed nearly 40 more power punches over the course of the fight, but Fisher was able to withstand the onslaught and secure the victory in two of the judges’ eyes.

Lee “Lightning” McGregor (15-1-1, 11 KOs) of Edinburgh, Scotland fought Isaac Lowe of Morecambe, England (25-3-3, 8 KOs) in a WBC International Featherweight title bout. McGregor landed more punches, but not without consequence, as he took several well placed body shots from Lowe. After 10 hard fought rounds, “Lightning” was declared the winner by unanimous decision (96-92, 97-91, 97-91) and secured the WBC International Featherweight title.

McGregor reflected on his performance and shared his thoughts on whether this was the biggest win of his career. “Everyone knows my story. I just needed my chance. I told everyone I know how good I am, and I feel like I proved that tonight. I had a bad loss last year and I’ve learned a lot from that. I’ve fixed everything and I’ve been in the best shape I’ve ever been in. I trained solid for 11 weeks and I was the best version of myself. I told everyone that I was going to announce myself on the biggest stage in the world, and I feel like I’ve done that.”

In a battle of two hard-throwing super featherweights from the United Kingdom, Peter “Blood” McGrail of Liverpool (11-1, 6 KOs) captured a tight, unanimous decision win (96-95, 96-94, 96-94) against Wales’ Rhys Edwards (16-1, 4 KOs). McGrail outlanded his opponent 118-111 while throwing over 100 more punches and consistently landing combinations. Edwards, who stepped into the bout on short notice, appeared to land the more significant power shots, but it was ultimately not enough to sway the judges in his favor.

After a wild two weeks for the Liverpudlian, McGrail shared “It’s been a little bit of a mad one and with the opponent switch, I just stayed professional. I knew we still had a job to do. Obviously, we got the job done. I was expecting a tough fight and gained valuable experience. I expect Ryhs to go on and do great things. It was an honor to share the ring with him. I’m just happy to come out with the win, and we push on from there. I can’t wait to fight again in the future.”

Competing for the vacant IBF International Light Heavyweight championship while simultaneously defending his own WBA Continental Light Heavyweight title, Ukraine’s Daniel Lapin (11-0, 4 KOs) handed France’s Dylan Colin (14-1, 4 KOs) his first professional loss in a dominating 10-round unanimous decision (100-90, 99-91, 99-91). One of Usyk’s primary sparring partners, the tricky southpaw Lapin used his reach and effective counterpunches along with his sleek footwork to keep Colin at bay over the course of the match.

In the first of the night’s four heavyweight bouts, reigning WBC International champion Andrii “Rampage” Novytskyi (14-0, 10 KOs) recorded a unanimous decision win (100-90, 100-90, 98-92) to retain his title over Edgar “Chato” Ramirez of Mexico (10-2-1, 4 KOs). The Ukrainian champion controlled the early portions of the contest, landing the cleaner shots, before Ramirez began to answer back with his right in the middle rounds. Novytskyi’s reach and cardio proved to be the ultimate difference maker as he managed to keep his tiring opponent away to close out the win.

When asked about his performance and capturing his 14th win of his career, Novytskyi exclaimed “I’m so excited and happy, thank you so much Saudi Arabia.”

Looking ahead to 2025, the undefeated fighter candidly shared “I now want to rest a little bit and celebrate it. After one week, we go back to work. Next year, I want to fight [Deontay] Wilder. If it's possible, I want this fight.”

The evening began with super featherweights as Riyadh’s own Mohammed “Mighty” Alakel (2-0, 0 KOs) looked polished, utilizing both hands enroute to a six-round unanimous decision victory (60-53, 60-53, 60-53) against Colombia’s Joshua Ocampo (8-34-5, 6 KOs). The 20-year-old Alakael scored a knockdown in the second with a counter right hand while leaning back from the 40-plus fight veteran Ocampo.

Reflecting post-fight on his second ever trip to the ring as a professional, Alakel shared “I felt less pressure, doing it the first time was a lot. This time I felt I was more prepared, no doubt.”

When asked if he was disappointed that he did not finish his opponent, the young fighter remarked that “it’s all experience, I’m happy I got the rounds in.”