Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury II: unified heavyweight championship – live updates | Boxing

Hello and welcome to today’s heavyweight rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury. We’re back at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, seven months after Usyk defeated Fury to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion in a quarter of a century. Will the 2012 Olympic champion and two-weight champion from Ukraine double his dominance in boxing’s prestige class? Or will it be 2 Fury 2 Furious as the Gypsy King regains his place on the heavyweight throne?

Among the many well-documented reasons for boxing’s continued retreat to the periphery of the mainstream, the lack of clearly identifiable champions tops the list of contenders. The World Heavyweight Championship used to be the most prestigious title in the sport, but the lack of central authority has left us with four major sanctioning bodies that have generally caused confusion among casual observers while devaluing a title’s currency.

Usyk delivered that long-awaited clarity in May when he won a razor-thin 12-round split decision, adding Fury’s WBC title to the WBA, IBF and WBO titles he won from Anthony Joshua, making him the first boxer to win all major belt titles simultaneously since Lennox Lewis.

Because we can’t have nice things, it’s today’s second leg not for the undisputed title. That’s because Usyk generously cleared the IBF stand in June to add some momentum to the Daniel Dubois-Anthony Joshua show at Wembley Stadium in September. (Dubois won that fight and the belt by fifth-round knockout in an upset.)

But make no mistake: These are the two best heavyweights in the world today… and Usyk is the one and only heavyweight champion. How will he perform in his first title defense? It’s still about two hours before we find out.