Oleksandr Usyk beat Tyson Fury: Heavyweight boxing – as it happened

Our coverage is ending now, thanks so much for joining us for an enthralling evening of boxing.

Al Jazeera will be back on Sunday with more live sporting action, but for now, it’s goodbye from Patrick Keddie and Kevin Hand.

Usyk’s win takes him to 23-0 with 14 knockouts and extends one of the all-time best careers, which includes Olympic gold and undisputed champion at cruiserweight.

“He’s a great fighter, it’s a great performance,” Usyk, 37, said of Fury, who was unbeaten in 35 fights until he lost their four-belt unification bout in May.

“Unbelievable 24 rounds for my career.”

“I thought I’ve won both fights, but then again, I’ve got two losses on my record now, so there’s not much I can do about it,” said the Briton, sporting a bruised right eye as he appeared before the media.

“I can just fight me heart out and do the best I can. But I’ll always believe until the day I die that I won that fight.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed Oleksandr Usyk’s victory over Tyson Fury, calling it proof that Ukraine “will not give up what’s ours”.

“Victory!” Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram. “So important and so necessary for all of us now.”

Ukraine remains locked in a war nearly three years after Russia invaded, but Zelenskyy said Usyk’s triumph was a mark of Ukrainian resiliency and determination.

“Having retained the championship belts, Oleksandr proves: we are Ukrainians and we will not give up what’s ours. And no matter how difficult it is — we will win.

“Be it the ring, battlefield or diplomatic arena — we fight and we will not give up what’s ours.”

Congratulations Usyk, you are a gentleman and a scholar. Tyson my amigo, back to the drawing board. YOU WILL BE BACK!!

— Oscar De La Hoya (@OscarDeLaHoya) December 21, 2024

The defeated boxer has been speaking to Sky Sports outside the dressing room: “I thought I won it by at least three rounds. I bossed the fight.”

“Remember when AJ lost to Usyk for the second time, we saw his reaction,” Hearn continued on DAZN. “He trained so hard for that fight. He put his entire soul into beating Usyk in the rematch – and you heard from Fury about the sacrifices he made in camp – he did the same thing.

“That’s why he left the ring tonight, probably with the same frustration: ‘How did I not beat him? I made the sacrifice, I didn’t talk to anyone’. It’s frustrating for these guys – they are winners.”

• Oleksandr Usyk beat Tyson Fury – unanimous decision
• Moses Itauma beat Demsey McKean – round one, KO
• Serhii Bohachuk beat Ishmael Davis – round six, fighter retired
• Johnny Fisher beat Dave Allen – split decision
• Lee McGregor beat Isaac Lowe – unanimous decision
• Peter McGrail beat Rhys Edwards – unanimous decision
• Daniel Lapin beat Dylan Colin – unanimous decision
• Andrii Novytskyi beat Edgar Ramirez – unanimous decision
• Mohammed Alakel beat Joshua Ocampo – unanimous decision

Usyk retained his WBA, WBO and WBC world heavyweight titles by a unanimous decision against Fury in an enthralling contest at the Kingdom Arena.

Fury came out determined not to allow the Ukrainian to back him up and looked to sting him with jabs and set up bigger rights, with Usyk trying to move inside and unleash combinations.

The first few rounds were close, but by the fourth, Usyk appeared to be finding his range for his powerful overhand left that almost knocked Fury out in their first fight.

Fury rallied in the fifth and increasingly looked to catch Usyk with body shots. But while Fury put in good work in spells, he was not sustaining it across the rounds and Usyk’s elusive movement and punishing shots wore on the Gypsy King.

Usyk was the aggressor in the seventh, tagging Fury with a hook. Fury looked tired at points as the fight neared its end and he switched to southpaw a few times to try to disrupt the Ukrainian’s slick boxing.

He managed to regain some initiative in the ninth round, landing one-twos and leaning on Usyk in an attempt to sap his energy.

Usyk cracked Fury in the 11th with a quick-fire combination that ended with a left hook to the head.

Both fighters threw wild punches in the final round as they looked to finish strong, but neither found a decisive blow and both claimed victory at the end.

But it was Usyk’s arm that was raised as the Ukrainian remains unbeaten across two divisions and cements his place among the all-time greats.

“I don’t think it’s time to start screaming because this night is about Oleksandr Usyk, but the reality is, there is only one fight for Tyson Fury – and that’s Anthony Joshua,” promoter Eddie Hearn told DAZN.

It’s the biggest fight probably in the history of British boxing. Everyone will always want to see it.

“That wasn’t a Fury that looked finished. It wasn’t a flat performance, it wasn’t a poor performance. He didn’t look gun shy, he didn’t look like his punch resistance was in question – Fury is still potentially at the peak of his powers. He just wasn’t quite good enough to beat Usyk tonight.

“For me, AJ against Fury is the one at Wembley. Then it’s back out here for Riyadh season. Fury will struggle with this, all fighters do. AJ struggled with the Daniel Dubois defeat, as well. You’re a winner and it hurts when you get beat.”

Tyson Fury’s tactics were sound and his performance impressive. The attempt to dominate the centre of the ring and push Oleksandr Usyk back with his jab ultimately failed, however. The champion from Ukraine used his superior pace and skill to round Fury’s attack and defence.

Usyk may well just decide to retire – he’s 37, at the top of his game, he’s beaten Tyson Fury twice, Anthony Joshua twice, he’s beaten Dubois.

It will be interesting to see what Fury does next after that devastating blow. There are a lot of big money fights out there for him, but he hardly needs the money and this defeat will hurt.

Dubois told Usyk he wanted to avenge the “robbery” from a low-blow controversy in his fight with Usyk last year.

A fight with Dubois, who holds the IBF belt, would be an opportunity for another undisputed fight.

Dubois is contracted to fight Joseph Parker in February first, though.

Fury’s promoter Frank Warren is not happy with the scorecards. He said it’s up to Fury whether he will fight again.

“We’ll see. Obviously, emotions are running high,” Warren said.

“But [the result is] nuts – did he really only win four rounds? I’m really disappointed with that. I thought Fury controlled the fight.

“But it is what it is.”

It doesn’t look like we’ll be hearing from Fury.

Usyk is speaking in the ring and he’s asked whether he agrees with the scorecard.

“I won, it’s good. I’m a sportsman, an athlete – not a judge. I won, that’s it,” he said.

He said his wife and children supported him to win and to get better.

Then Daniel Dubois was suddenly in the ring to confront Usyk.

“I want my revenge,” Dubois said, referring to the defeat he suffered to Usyk in August 2023. “Well done tonight but I want my revenge.”

Usyk agrees and calls on the promoters to make it happen.

He pays tribute to Fury.

“[He’s a] great fighter,” he says of Fury. “[He’s a] great opponent. It’s a great 24 rounds, an unbelievable 24 rounds for my career.”

He then dedicates his win to his mother and says: “I devote this to her and all the mothers of Ukraine.”

All three judges score it 116-112 to the Ukrainian! He defends his heavyweight titles and remains unbeaten.

Fury looks understandably crestfallen, he thought he’d won and so many of those rounds looked close.

Fury had good spells but he didn’t always sustain it across the rounds.

Usyk managed to finish a lot of rounds as the stronger fighter and maybe that tipped it in his favour.

And the Ukrainian cements his place as an all-time great!