Tale of the tape
Here’s how the fighters measure up ahead of tonight’s showdown. Fury came in 262lbs at yesterday’s weigh-in, arguably the best shape of his career and more than 15lbs below his weight from a highly underwhelming showing against MMA champion Francis Ngannou in their November crossover fight. Usyk tipped the scales at a career-high 223.5lbs, two pounds heavier than he weighed for the second Joshua bout.
Fury’s advantages of seven inches of reach and six inches in height remain the most imposing physical obstacles facing Usyk, a former undisputed cruiserweight champion who has exceeded all expectations in five fights at heavyweight.
Key events
The week leading up to the most significant heavyweight fight in 25 years kicked off with a bang on Monday afternoon. Or, shall we say, a butt, when Tyson Fury’s famously excitable father, John, head-butted a member of Oleksandr Usyk’s entourage at a pre-fight media availability in Riyadh. The 59-year-old paterfamilias was left bloodied after making contact with a young Ukrainian, Stanislav Stepchuk, in reaction to a sustained chanting of Usyk’s name.
Cooler heads have prevailed in the days since, with fight week settling into a respectful tone following the early rancor, but the lowkey psychological warfare between Fury and Usyk has offered up rich fodder for armchair pundits.
Here’s where things stand with the order of play. We’re into the 10th round of a scheduled 12-round fight between Jai Opetaia and Mairis Briedis for the IBF vacant cruiserweight title. That’s the last of the nine undercard bouts on tonight’s card. Once that’s done, the countdown to the main event will begin.
We’ve been told to expect Fury and Usyk to make their ringwalks at the top of the hour, around midnight local time, or about 15 minutes from now. That feels a bit soon, but it shouldn’t be much longer beyond that point.
Tale of the tape
Here’s how the fighters measure up ahead of tonight’s showdown. Fury came in 262lbs at yesterday’s weigh-in, arguably the best shape of his career and more than 15lbs below his weight from a highly underwhelming showing against MMA champion Francis Ngannou in their November crossover fight. Usyk tipped the scales at a career-high 223.5lbs, two pounds heavier than he weighed for the second Joshua bout.
Fury’s advantages of seven inches of reach and six inches in height remain the most imposing physical obstacles facing Usyk, a former undisputed cruiserweight champion who has exceeded all expectations in five fights at heavyweight.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena for tonight’s summit meeting between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk. There are big fights. There are blockbusters. And there are events like this one which promise to define an era. For the first time since the dawn of the millennium, after a quarter-century of fracture and dispute, boxing will have an undisputed heavyweight champion.
Of the many well-documented reasons for boxing’s protracted retreat toward the periphery of the mainstream, the lack of clearly identifiable champions rates high on a competitive list. At one time the heavyweight championship of the world was the most prestigious title in sports, yet the lack of central authority has left us with four major sanctioning bodies that have served to create confusion among casual observers while devaluing the currency of a title.
Fury has owned the WBC’s version of the championship since his stunning knockout of Deontay Wilder in the middle installment of their epic trilogy, while Usyk owns the WBA, IBF and WBO straps, having won them from Anthony Joshua and defended them in a rematch. Fury’s claim to the throne is arguably purer as the lineal champion from his 2015 win over Wladimir Klitschko – the man who beat the man who beat the man – the successor of a pedigree traceable all the way back to John L Sullivan (but for the retirements of Lewis, Rocky Marciano and Gene Tunney).
The sport’s flagship division has long served as a bellwether for the popularity of fighting at large. As the heavyweights go, they say, so does boxing. For all the acclaim that awaits tonight’s winner, one could argue that a sport stands to gain even more.
Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s a look at the long and winding road to tonight’s summit meeting.