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Andres Ferrari, ESPN Editor
Oleksandr Usyk puts his WBC, WBO and WBA heavyweight world titles on the line in a rematch against Tyson Fury on Saturday at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) defeated Fury by split decision back in May to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion in the four-belt era. Usyk knocked Fury down in Round 9 to seal the victory on the scorecards, 114-113, 115-112 and 113-114. He outlanded Fury in total punches (170-157) in the first encounter, but Usyk was more effective, connecting on 42% of his total punches compared to 32% for Fury. The 170 landed punches were the most by a Fury opponent since Otto Wallin’s 127 in 2019.
Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) suffered the first defeat of his professional career, but he was ahead on two judges’ scorecards entering the ninth round (77-75, 77-75 and 76-76). Fury entered the fight only allowing opponents to connect 19% of their punches — the lowest percentage among heavyweights.
“I just gotta hit him more times in the face,” Fury told ESPN last week about the rematch. “That’s by layman’s terms hitting more times in the face than he hits me, and I’ll win. That’s it.”
With a win against Usyk, Fury would become the sixth boxer in history to have three reigns as heavyweight champion and the first since Vitali Klitschko in 2008.
3: Number of fighters in the four-belt era to become undisputed in multiple divisions. With his victory over Fury in May, Usyk, who also was undisputed at cruiserweight, joined Naoya Inoue (bantamweight and junior featherweight), and Terence Crawford (junior welterweight and welterweight). Fury is also one of three fighters to win titles at cruiserweight and heavyweight (David Haye and Evander Holyfield are the others).
12: Undisputed champions in the four-belt era (since 2004).
13: Difference in total punches between Usyk and Fury in their first encounter. Usyk landed 170 against 157 by Fury.
32%: Percentage of total punches landed by Fury in the first fight, way above the 19% that Usyk’s opponents had landed on him entering the bout.
Fury enters a world title fight as a challenger for the first time since defeating Deontay Wilder in their second fight in February 2020.
With a win against Usyk, Fury would become just the sixth boxer in history to have three reigns as heavyweight champion and the first since Vitali Klitschko in 2008. (Evander Holyfield has four, Muhammad Ali, Lennox Lewis, Vitali Klitschko, Michael Moorer all have three.) All those fighters have been inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
+130: Odds for Usyk to win the fight per ESPN BET, (Usyk is -160). Fury was a -150 favorite for the first fight, with Usyk a +130 underdog.
9: Fury’s successful defenses of the lineal heavyweight championship he won from Wladimir Klitschko in 2015. Fury is just one of four boxers to make at least nine successful defenses dating back to 1962.
2012: Year when Usyk won an Olympic gold medal representing Ukraine.
1: Usyk position in ESPN’s heavyweight and pound-for pound rankings.
8.7: Usyk power punches landed per round as a heavyweight, under the division average of 9.5. However, Usyk is more effective at 41.4% than the rest of the division at 39.7%.
3.3: Usyk’s body punches landed per round (24.1%). Fury land three body punches per round (23.4%).
7.2: Punches landed by Fury’s opponents per round — fifth fewest among champions and contenders; and five power punches per round — seventh fewest among champions and contenders.