The unification bout, which headlined an evening of boxing in the Saudi capital Riyadh, went the full distance and ended with the Ukrainian winning by split decision with scores of 115-112, 114-113 and 113-114.
In the first half of the match neither boxer had a clear advantage, but it seemed that the Briton was beginning to take control of the fight, however, in the seventh round Usik picked up the pace, and in the next three minutes broke Fury’s nose, which affected the further course of the fight.
In the ninth round “The Gypsy King” missed a powerful left jab and was on the verge of an early defeat, however, the referee stopped the Ukrainian’s attack and gave the shocked Brit a knockdown in the stand-up, after which a gong sounded and the boxers went to the break.
In the final three rounds Tyson Fury acted collected and managed to get back into the fight, at times seizing the initiative, but it was not enough to win the fight.
Recall that earlier Alexander Usik became the absolute world champion in boxing in the first heavyweight.