By: Sean Crose
The time for talk is over. Provided there’s no last minute disasters, Tyson Fury will slip in between the ropes in Saudi Arabia tomorrow to take on fellow undefeated heavyweight titlist Oleksandr Usyk in a battle scheduled for 12 rounds. At stake will be nothing less than the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world, a position one can only hold if in possession of every major divisional title. Just how big a deal is it if one becomes undisputed heavyweight champ? Let’s just say the last undisputed champion in the big man’s division was Lennox Lewis, and his reign was decades ago.
And while it’s true there’s far more to boxing than just belts, the truth is that people have waited a long time for a new king to be crowned. Years ago this writer felt like the contest for the top spot on the heavyweight mountain would be between Fury, Deontay Wilder, and Anthony Joshua. Usyk? He wasn’t even on the list. But, sure enough, the skillful Ukrainian bested Joshua twice, while Fury did away with Wilder over the course of three memorable fights. Now the smoke has cleared and only two men are left standing. The fact they’re going to square off tomorrow means a whole lot for this sport.
What makes this impending battle all the more interesting is the fact that neither Fury nor Usyk has ever tasted defeat. They’re both undefeated as well as major belt holders. Who will be the one left with a zero in his loss column? The world’s about to find out – unless, of course, the fight ends in a disqualification, a no-contest due to something like an injury, or a draw. The fact that a draw is possible seems to be haunting a few of the sports more knowledgeable talking heads lately, and for good reason.
First off, these two fighters seem to be so evenly matched on paper, it’s almost easy to imagine the judges being unable to pick a clear winner once the bout is over on Saturday (provided it goes the full twelve rounds). What’s more, Fury has already fought to a draw in a major fight, his memorable first matchup against Wilder way back in 2018. Still, there seems to be a considerably better chance of the fight providing an undisputed champion than there is a draw, disqualification or no contest ruling.
In short, we’re likely to have a new supreme ruler at heavyweight crowned this weekend. A lot has been said leading up to Saturday’s fight, but there really isn’t much left to say at this point. It’s now up for the fits of Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk to do the talking.
*Image: Top Rank