Famous boxing coach Teddy Atlas shared his thoughts on Oleksandr Usik’s victory over Tyson Fury.
The highly anticipated undisputed heavyweight title fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk took place this evening in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Fury (34-1-1) and Usyk (22-0) were initially scheduled to collide this past February, however ‘The Gypsy King’ suffered a nasty cut in training, forcing the bout to be pushed back.
Tyson Fury had most previously competed this past October, where he edged out a hotly debated split decision win over former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. That victory had marked the Brit’s seventh in a row, as he had previously scored stoppage wins over Derek Chisora, Dillian Whyte and Deontay Wilder respectively.
As for Oleksandr Usyk, the Ukranian champion had last competed in August of last year, where he earned a ninth-round knockout victory over Daniel Dubois. That win was preceded by back-t0-back victories over Anthony Joshua where he claimed and then defended the WBA, WBO and IBF belts.
This night’s undisputed heavyweight title fight proved to be an absolutely thrilling twelve round affair. Oleksandr Usyk was able to get off to a strong start in rounds one and two, but Tyson Fury came back strongly to arguably win the next four or five rounds. However, in round eight Usyk appeared to break Fury’s nose and then was able to drop ‘The Gypsy King’ the following round with a huge combination. From there, Usyk seemingly went into cruise and control and in the end was awarded a much-deserved victory.
Official Result: Oleksandr Usyk defeats Tyson Fury via split decision (115-112, 113-114, 114-113)
Teddy Atlas react to Oleksandr Usik’s victory in his fight with Tyson Fury
” I said leading up to this fight, the single greatest talent Usyk has is an ability to find a way to win! And he found it. Great effort & heart shown by both. I often speak of it not being enough to only fight like a Champion, but to also behave like one. They did both tonight, each of them. Respect & Admiration! We understood the physical abilities of both, but it was a less tangible ability that won it for Usyk— his ability to find a way to win. Something he’s done since Olympics” – ,” Teddy Atlas wrote on his page on X