SPORTSCLOPEDIA 3: AND NOW THE UNDISPUTED SHOWDOWN - OLEKSANDR USYK VS. TYSON FURY
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 24 Dec 2022
The camps of Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury have agreed to a much awaited showdown of boxing giants. If realized, it would be the first such undisputed championship of all the major boxing titles in the heavyweight division after more than two decades.
* * *
There have only been five undisputed heavyweight champions in boxing history in the WBA-WBC-IBF era:
1. Mike Tyson
2. Buster Douglas
3. Evander Holyfield
4. Riddick Bowe
5. Lennox Lewis
* * *
Bowe's undisputed champion status ended when he vacated his WBC title and threw the title into the trash bin. Lewis' undisputed title ceased when he was stripped of his WBA title for agreeing to fight the WBC mandatory Michael Grant instead of the WBA mandatory John Ruiz. Ruiz filed a complaint in court claiming that a clause in the Lewis–Holyfield rematch contract stated that Lewis' first defense as undisputed champion would be against the WBA number one contender. The court decided in favor of Ruiz.
* * *
Lewis became the last undisputed heavyweight champion twenty-two years ago, when he defeated Evander Holyfield on November 13, 1999. The brutal rematch between the two heavyweight giants was a remake of their first match which resulted in a controversial draw at Madison Square Garden on March 13, 1999.
* * *
Holyfield was the WBA and IBF heavyweight champion, The Ring pound-for-pound No. 3 ranked fighter and two-division undisputed world champion. Lewis was the WBC heavyweight champion. Lewis won by 12-round unanimous decision (115–113, 116–112, 117–111).
* * *
The two fighters fought eight months before that in a first fight in Madison Square Garden. Experts thought Lewis had fought well enough, but the bout was decided a draw, with one judge favoring Lewis 116–113, another had it for Holyfield with a score of 115–113 and the third declaring the fight at an even 115–115.
* * *
The decision was considered as one of the most controversial in boxing history, and the three sanctioning bodies WBA, WBC, and IBF immediately ordered a rematch. The two fighters fought for the three major belts and the minor IBO heavyweight title which was awarded to Lewis before the fight.
* * *
Oleksandr Usyk, age 35 of Simferopol, Crimea, Ukraine is a world champion in two weight classes. He was the unified WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight champion since 2021, The Ring magazine heavyweight champion since 2022, and the undisputed cruiserweight champion from 2018 to 2019, and became the first cruiserweight champion to hold all four major world titles.
* * *
Usyk is considered by several experts as one of the greatest Ukrainian boxers of all time. With his magnificent victory over Anthony Joshua, Usyk became one of only three boxers to become the cruiserweight world champion and later won as world heavyweight champion, like Evander Holyfield and David Haye.
* * *
Tyson Fury, age 34 of Manchester, England, is a two-time world heavyweight champion, and was the WBC champion since defeating Deontay Wilder in 2020, and The Ring magazine champion from 2020 to August 2022. He held the unified WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, and The Ring heavyweight titles after beating Wladimir Klitschko in 2015.
* * *
Bob Arum of Top Rank, the US company that co-promotes Fury with Queensberry Promotions in the UK, told Sky Sports that both Fury, the WBC champion, and Usyk, the unified WBO, WBA and IBF heavyweight titlist, would not take other fights before that undisputed match. Fury and Usyk have agreed on setting the undisputed match in early 2023, with the exact date and the location of the showdown to be finalized.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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