It took decades and Saudi oil money but boxing finally has something it was supposed to have all along. A unified undisputed heavyweight champion. A single fighter we can point to as the best of this era. For now at least that man is a stoic Ukrainian southpaw named Oleksander Usyk.
He took no shortcuts on his unstoppable rise. Coming up through the deeply competitive amateur system in Ukraine which produced the two headed monster that ran the heavyweight division in those lost years between Lennox Lewis and the current era big 4. While it’s hard to blame the brothers Klitschko for an unwillingness to fight with the vicious sincerity a Championship fight requires, their dominance destroyed any hope for a unified champion for nearly a decade.
It was ultimately Tyson Fury that ended the Klitschko era. Came in as a huge underdog (literally) with just the perfect style to make Wladimir look like the “big stiff idiot” Fury was so fond of calling him. It was Anthony Joshua that put the final nail in the coffin of the Klitschko era, getting off the canvas to land the most memorable uppercut in recent history and finish the former champion on his feet. With the iron grip of the Klitschkos released, the division opened up. Tyson Fury lost his mind. Drinking, drugs and a mild suicide attempt plagued Fury as the bipolar lineal champ who lost his mind conditioning and interest in defending his title.
While heavyweight was taking a roundabout way of working itself out the Cruiserweight division took a far more direct path. The World Boxing Super Series put on a tournament putting enough money in front of all the collective champions to incentivize them into whittling it down to one single Cruiserweight Champion. When the cuts closed and the swelling went down Oleksander Usyk was the last man standing.
While he has a gold medal and unified Cruiserweight championship few people gave Usyk a shot to have an impact in the land of the giants that modern heavyweight fighting has become. He was too small. The only heavyweight to come up from Cruiser to really make an impact was the incomparable Evander holyfield. Evander being the exception that seemed to prove the rule.
It wasn’t until usyk took on Anthony Joshua that the heavyweight division was forced to take the cruiserweight as a serious threat. The height and reach didn’t matter for Usyk against such a tall and static target. While Joshua had the hand speed and power to annihilate a generation of relatively immobile heavyweights. The slippery southpaw kept the big lad turning like a frigate unable to bring its broadside of cannons to bare. It was his pace and defensive acumen that gave the modern monster problems.
While Tyson Fury got his life back together to take on Deontay Wilder. It looked like smooth sailing until deep into the fight Fury got flatlined by a horrific right hand/left hook that took a full blown resurrection to recover from. While Tyson fought the first fight on the back foot the 2nd and 3rd fights showed the most dangerous version of the Gypsy king as he fought an ugly bullying fight using his massive frame to wear down, smother and beat up the power puncher at short range. Twice.
It was while Usyk was training for his mandatory rematch with Anthony Joshua that Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Usyk’s homeland. With that a generation of Ukrainian fighters gave up their professional ambitions to defend their homeland. When the front stabilized, the boxers got back to their preferred form of fighting.
After defeating Anthony Joshua a second time there was little doubt that the smallest man in the division had earned his shot at the biggest. But not before Tyson Fury took the opportunity to make a fool of himself and his sport. He took on MMA fighter Francis Ngannou. A fight which will go down as one of the darkest days in boxing history. It was the day the lineal heavyweight champion was put on his ass by a man who’d never had a professional boxing match in his life.
On Saturday night it all came to a head. Usyk walked out dressed like he just got back from negotiating an alliance with the Byzantines and didn’t have to warm up for the fight. Fury was his natural goofy self walking out to Barry White before holding out for a hero. The ambassador to the Grand Duchy of Kievan Rus held no fear. It was just one more giant to slay.
The bell rings and Fury is his usual infuriating self. Terminally incapable of taking this as seriously as he should. Playing to the crowd as Usyk chased down the awkward giant looking to establish his presence. Stoic pressure designed to cut the ring while searching for a lane to establish his southpaw straight. While the giant’s head proved an elusive target his massive torso was not. Usyk stayed fixated on Fury’s center of mass going upstairs just often enough to catch Fury off guard.
Fury adjusts holding his own by giving ground, feinting, doubling and tripling on the jab occasionally peppering in the awkwardest right hand you’ve ever seen. Giant ogre of a body somehow propelled effortlessly by the spindly pair of legs that had no business move that much weight as quickly as they do. With under a minute in the 2nd round Fury digs a body shot downstairs on Usyk and earns a grimace from the smaller man. You don’t need to be a poker player to read the tell. Fury kept his right by his waist relying on the shoulder rolls and head movement for defense. Whipping in uppercuts that Usyk walks onto.
By round 4 it looked like Tyson Fury had him figured out. The body work and ridiculous reach made getting close enough for Usyk to land a near impossible task. Usyk was doing the least Usyk thing of all. Reacting to it. You could see the change in demeanor when Fury landed. By the mid rounds it looked like Tyson was pulling away and the smaller man was forced to give ground and get on his bike. Tyson was throwing his 1-2 waiting for Usyk, moves his head and then snapping shots down to the body. At the end of 6 Usyk badly needed something to change.
All the praying to orthodox Jesus seemed to pay off. It was a single looping left. The only punch but it shattered Tyson Fury’s nose. The blood begins to pour. Fury Can’t leave it alone and his entire demeanor changes. Usyk got what he needed. By the end of the 8th Fury is a bloody mess and it’s a brand new fight. But there was a ton of ground to be made up to reel in the giant who’d pulled ahead on all the cards.
The 9th looked close, up until the last 30 seconds. Fury drops his left to throw a fairly uncommitted uppercut Usyk sits down on a right hook that straightened him up and follows through with a full force left hook that sends the giant pinballing around the ring. Usyk stays right on top of him since his opportunity had come. Fury was too tall to fall down properly, concussed to consider taking a knee, too unbalanced for his spindly legs to get control of his upper body. Every time he seemed to settle in place Usyk rifles in another left hand until the ref finally calls a knockdown. Tyson answered the ref and gave Fury the minute he needed to stay in the fight.
Fury spent the 10th in his most serious round of recovery since he quit drinking. There’s times in life where the absolute best you can do is to survive another minute. And say what you will of Tyson Fury, he was under 2 lbs and born months premature, survival instinct has always been his greatest asset. While he didn’t win the 10th, Survival alone was a testament to his character.
Round 11 was almost unscareable. Fury worked well with the jab and short shots out of the clinches while Usyk was having success at mid range cutting off the ring and catching the big man stepping into his wide hooks as he tried to get back out into space. Tyson landed more, usyk landed harder and cleaner. Going into the final round it was almost impossible to call. The final round full of mutual respect proved as excellent and closely contended as all the others. It was a razor thin split decision, one that felt rightly decided by the only knockdown. The hard working stoic beat the gifted showboat but just barely.
The post fight presser was a mess and I don’t care. Fury should have been in front of a doctor rather than a microphone. Concussed men saying dumb things is virtually a meme in combat sports, not that Fury particularly needs a concussion or 10 to put a foot in his big mouth. But the show is far less important than the substance. Both these men are champions and fought like it.
But on this night some champions are more equal than others. On this historic night boxing only has one. For a little while at least our sport can point to one man as the baddest man on the planet. The hardcore fans can shout from the rooftops that Oleksander usyk is the undisputed champion of the world. Like Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali were. Like Foreman and Tyson and Lennox Lewis were. For a rare perfect moment in time all is right in the sport I love. And that makes me feel.
Rhythm Boxing
Very Feel - Usyk vs Fury recap
It took decades and Saudi oil money but boxing finally has something it was supposed to have all along. A unified undisputed heavyweight champion. A single fighter we can point to as the best of this era. For now at least that man is a stoic Ukrainian southpaw named Oleksander Usyk.
He took no shortcuts on his unstoppable rise. Coming up through the deeply competitive amateur system in Ukraine which produced the two headed monster that ran the heavyweight division in those lost years between Lennox Lewis and the current era big 4. While it’s hard to blame the brothers Klitschko for an unwillingness to fight with the vicious sincerity a Championship fight requires, their dominance destroyed any hope for a unified champion for nearly a decade.
It was ultimately Tyson Fury that ended the Klitschko era. Came in as a huge underdog (literally) with just the perfect style to make Wladimir look like the “big stiff idiot” Fury was so fond of calling him. It was Anthony Joshua that put the final nail in the coffin of the Klitschko era, getting off the canvas to land the most memorable uppercut in recent history and finish the former champion on his feet. With the iron grip of the Klitschkos released, the division opened up. Tyson Fury lost his mind. Drinking, drugs and a mild suicide attempt plagued Fury as the bipolar lineal champ who lost his mind conditioning and interest in defending his title.
While heavyweight was taking a roundabout way of working itself out the Cruiserweight division took a far more direct path. The World Boxing Super Series put on a tournament putting enough money in front of all the collective champions to incentivize them into whittling it down to one single Cruiserweight Champion. When the cuts closed and the swelling went down Oleksander Usyk was the last man standing.
While he has a gold medal and unified Cruiserweight championship few people gave Usyk a shot to
have an impact in the land of the giants that modern heavyweight fighting has become. He was too small. The only heavyweight to come up from Cruiser to really make an impact was the incomparable Evander holyfield. Evander being the exception that seemed to prove the rule.
It wasn’t until usyk took on Anthony Joshua that the heavyweight division was forced to take the
cruiserweight as a serious threat. The height and reach didn’t matter for Usyk against such a tall and static target. While Joshua had the hand speed and power to annihilate a generation of relatively immobile heavyweights. The slippery southpaw kept the big lad turning like a frigate unable to bring its broadside of cannons to bare. It was his pace and defensive acumen that gave the modern monster problems.
While Tyson Fury got his life back together to take on Deontay Wilder. It looked like smooth sailing until
deep into the fight Fury got flatlined by a horrific right hand/left hook that took a full blown resurrection to recover from. While Tyson fought the first fight on the back foot the 2nd and 3rd fights showed the most dangerous version of the Gypsy king as he fought an ugly bullying fight using his massive frame to wear down, smother and beat up the power puncher at short range. Twice.
It was while Usyk was training for his mandatory rematch with Anthony Joshua that Vladimir Putin
launched his invasion of Usyk’s homeland. With that a generation of Ukrainian fighters gave up their professional ambitions to defend their homeland. When the front stabilized, the boxers got back to their preferred form of fighting.
After defeating Anthony Joshua a second time there was little doubt that the smallest man in the division
had earned his shot at the biggest. But not before Tyson Fury took the opportunity to make a fool of himself and his sport. He took on MMA fighter Francis Ngannou. A fight which will go down as one of the darkest days in boxing history. It was the day the lineal heavyweight champion was put on his ass by a man who’d never had a professional boxing match in his life.
On Saturday night it all came to a head. Usyk walked out dressed like he just got back from negotiating an alliance with the Byzantines and didn’t have to warm up for the fight. Fury was his natural goofy self walking out to Barry White before holding out for a hero. The ambassador to the Grand Duchy of Kievan Rus held no fear. It was just one more giant to slay.
The bell rings and Fury is his usual infuriating self. Terminally incapable of taking this as seriously as he
should. Playing to the crowd as Usyk chased down the awkward giant looking to establish his presence. Stoic pressure designed to cut the ring while searching for a lane to establish his southpaw straight. While the giant’s head proved an elusive target his massive torso was not. Usyk stayed fixated on Fury’s center of mass going upstairs just often enough to catch Fury off guard.
Fury adjusts holding his own by giving ground, feinting, doubling and tripling on the jab occasionally peppering in the awkwardest right hand you’ve ever seen. Giant ogre of a body somehow propelled effortlessly by the spindly pair of legs that had no business move that much weight as quickly as they do. With under a minute in the 2nd round Fury digs a body shot downstairs on Usyk and earns a grimace from the smaller man. You don’t need to be a poker player to read the tell. Fury kept his right by his waist relying on the shoulder rolls and head movement for defense. Whipping in uppercuts that Usyk walks onto.
By round 4 it looked like Tyson Fury had him figured out. The body work and ridiculous reach made
getting close enough for Usyk to land a near impossible task. Usyk was doing the least Usyk thing of all. Reacting to it. You could see the change in demeanor when Fury landed. By the mid rounds it looked like Tyson was pulling away and the smaller man was forced to give ground and get on his bike. Tyson was throwing his 1-2 waiting for Usyk, moves his head and then snapping shots down to the body. At the end of 6 Usyk badly needed something to
change.
All the praying to orthodox Jesus seemed to pay off. It was a single looping left. The only punch but it
shattered Tyson Fury’s nose. The blood begins to pour. Fury Can’t leave it alone and his entire demeanor changes. Usyk got what he needed. By the end of the 8th Fury is a bloody mess and it’s a brand new fight. But there was a ton of ground to be made up to reel in the giant who’d pulled ahead on all the cards.
The 9th looked close, up until the last 30 seconds. Fury drops his left to throw a fairly uncommitted uppercut Usyk sits down on a right hook that straightened him up and follows through with a full force left hook that sends the giant pinballing around the ring. Usyk stays right on top of him since his opportunity had come. Fury was too tall to fall down properly, concussed to consider taking a knee, too unbalanced for his spindly legs to get control of his upper body. Every time he seemed to settle in place Usyk rifles in another left hand until the ref finally calls a knockdown. Tyson answered the ref and gave Fury the minute he needed to stay in the fight.
Fury spent the 10th in his most serious round of recovery since he quit drinking. There’s times in life where the absolute best you can do is to survive another minute. And say what you will of Tyson Fury, he was under 2 lbs and born months premature, survival instinct has always been his greatest asset. While he didn’t win the 10th, Survival alone was a testament to his character.
Round 11 was almost unscareable. Fury worked well with the jab and short shots out of the clinches while
Usyk was having success at mid range cutting off the ring and catching the big man stepping into his wide hooks as he tried to get back out into space. Tyson landed more, usyk landed harder and cleaner. Going into the final round it was almost impossible to call. The final round full of mutual respect proved as excellent and closely contended as all the others. It was a razor thin split decision, one that felt rightly decided by the only knockdown. The hard working stoic beat the gifted showboat but just barely.
The post fight presser was a mess and I don’t care. Fury should have been in front of a doctor rather than a microphone. Concussed men saying dumb things is virtually a meme in combat sports, not that Fury particularly needs a concussion or 10 to put a foot in his big mouth. But the show is far less important than the substance. Both these men are champions and fought like it.
But on this night some champions are more equal than others. On this historic night boxing only has one. For a little while at least our sport can point to one man as the baddest man on the planet. The hardcore fans can shout from the rooftops that Oleksander usyk is the undisputed champion of the world. Like Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali were. Like Foreman and Tyson and Lennox Lewis were. For a rare perfect moment in
time all is right in the sport I love. And that makes me feel.
It makes me very feel.
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