Oleksandr Usyk took the win over Tyson Fury to become undisputed champion | Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images
Oleksandr Usyk put Tyson Fury down and won the decision to become undisputed champion.
Usyk (22-0, 14 KO) dropped Fury (34-1-1, 24 KO) in the eighth round, which ultimately did make the difference in the outcome. The knockdown was incredible, coming at the end of a wild assault of clean shots from Usyk, with Fury staggering around the ring.
Referee Mark Nelson might have stopped any other fight in that situation, and could have here, but the general feeling is he recognized how big of a fight this was and gave Fury his chance to recover. Fury did go down, but it was late in the round, and the clock ran out after he’d gotten up.
But Usyk kept pretty solid control from there, not because Fury didn’t recover pretty well, but he snatched back momentum — which Fury had taken over some of the early and middle rounds — and just didn’t let it go.
It is likely we’ll see a rematch, as that was in the contract no matter the outcome of this fight. When we see it is another matter, if we do — it doesn’t have to happen, of course, they can’t make Fury fight Usyk again, but Fury sounded like he’d be happy to do so, feeling he’d won the fight.
On the undercard
Jai Opetaia beat Mairis Briedis to regain the IBF cruiserweight title — which he’d been stripped of on a technicality — via unanimous decision. This fight between Opetaia (25-0, 19 KO) and Briedis (28-3, 20 KO) isn’t going to make anyone forget their 2022 encounter, a brutal affair and Fight of the Year candidate. This was a lot more measured, especially on the side of the 39-year-old Briedis, who hadn’t fought at all since then. Briedis did give a good go of it late trying to steal the win in exciting fashion, but too little, too late.
Anthony Cacace took the IBF super featherweight title in an upset win over Joe Cordina via eighth round stoppage. It’s a win that’s going to come with at least a bit of controversy, and referee Bob Williams will receive real criticism. Cacace (22-1, 8 KO) caught Cordina with a punch on the break in round three that Cordina never seemed to fully recover from. Cordina (17-1, 9 KO) went down later that same round, and though he had a solid fourth, he just never quite got back in the fight from the third. Other than just the punch on the break, Williams put in a pretty rough shift in general.
Agit Kabayel continued his emergence as a serious heavyweight contender, dominating Frank Sanchez en route to a seventh round body shot knockout in a WBC heavyweight eliminator. Sanchez (24-1, 17 KO) definitely looked like he had something wrong with his knee, to be entirely fair, but Kabayel (25-0, 17 KO) just took him apart, keeping the pressure up, attacking the body, and wearing the Cuban down and out. Kabayel’s post-fight interview was once again a delight, as the man is completely uninterested in the usual boxing trash talk and BS, he shows up and fights, and he’s happy to do well and win.
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