United heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (23-0, 12 KOs) retained his world title with a 12-round unanimous decision victory over Tyson Fury (34-2-2, 24 KOs) in their rematch Saturday night at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh. , Saudi Arabia.
The results
116-112 (view, other).
116-112 (view, other).
116-112 (view, other).
Boxing News 24 scored Usyk 9-3 (117-111), defeating an old-looking Fury, who looked slow and limp around the midsection.
Fury was on top of the first five rounds, appearing to win three of them. From the sixth round onwards, Usyk dominated Fury, hitting him hard with left hands.
Undercard Results
– In a predictable upset, heavyweight contender Moses Itauma (11-0, 9 KOs) defeated Australia’s Demsey McKean (22-2, 14 KOs) in the first round of the main support bout. Itauma, 19, dropped Mckean with a beautiful left-handed rabbit punch to the back of the head for the first knockdown. The referee allowed the knockdown, even though it was a clean blow to the back of the head. Moments later, Itauma dropped McKean for the second time in the round with a left hand to the chin.
The referee then stopped the fight. This match should have been lower on the card because it was a mismatch on paper and nowhere near as interesting as the ones before it. However, the promoters of the event are trying to create hype for Itauma as a possible replacement for the aging Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. It’s questionable whether Itauma has the talent to beat the current young crop of heavyweights like Daniel Dubois or others to come, but it’s understandable why his promoter is putting him in a highly visible spot to look great against limited opposition. He doesn’t look this good in some of the other fights though.
– Serhij Bohachuk (25-2, 24 KOs) tired out and stopped replacement opponent Ishmael Davis (13-2, 6 KOs) with a sixth-round TKO in the WBC junior middleweight title eliminator. Davis’ corner took him out at the end of the sixth round due to the punishment he was taking from Bohačuk. In the second round, Davis was dropped hard by a short left hook from Bohachuk that he didn’t see coming. After the second round everything was one-sided, Bohachuk went around Davis and nailed him with heavy shots.
– An undefeated British heavyweight prospect Johnny Fisher (13-0, 11 KO) won a controversial 10-round split decision over assistant Dave Allen (23-7-2, 18 KO). Fisher was dropped by a left hand from Allen in the fifth round and was injured in rounds 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. Fisher looked useless after the fifth and mostly survived by holding and landing weak shots that had nothing on them. He looked sloppy, tired and old for a 25-year-old.
It’s no shock that Fisher won the decision because he’s touted as a local entertainer — a heavyweight. He sells tickets and is popular. He didn’t seem to win after all, so his decision makes sense from a business angle. Allen obviously won, but he’s not a big ticket seller.
The ref allowed Fisher to use his left straight hand most of the time, which is illegal and should have been booked. It is not clear whether British referees allow illegal arm stiffness. American judges do not allow this use.
The results
– 95-94: Fisher
– 96-93: Allen
– 95-94: Fisher
Boxing News 24 reported that Allen won 7-3.
– Lightly Lee McGregor (15-1-1, 11 KOs) won a grueling 10-round unanimous decision over Isaac Lowe (25-3-4, 8 KOs) to capture the WBC International 126 lb. title. Lowe, 30, was penalized twice for losing his whistle, in the ninth and tenth rounds. He lost his pen eight times in battle. The score was 96-92, 97-91 and 97-91.
The referee’s decision to stop the punishing action of Lowe in the last two rounds may have saved McGregor from being knocked out as he was injured to the body. Moreover, the referee failed to penalize McGregor for his excessive clinch in the ninth and tenth.
The constant holding of McGregor, along with the actions of the referee, may have saved him in this fight. It was hard to watch Lowe lose like this because he could have won.
The referee gave up and made no effort to stop the action to get Lowe back the whistle when he lost it in the last minute of the tenth round.
– Great pen Peter McGrail (11-1, 6 KOs) beat Rhys Edwards (16-1, 4 KOs) in a tighter than expected 10-round unanimous decision. The score was 96-95, 96-94 and 96-94. Edwards came in late, landing powerful punches that repeatedly cracked McGrail’s head.
– Perspective of the light heavyweight category Daniel Lapin (11-0, 4 KO) easily defeated previously undefeated Dylan Colin (14-1, 4 KO) by unanimous decision over 10 rounds to win the IBF International 175 lb title. The lanky 6’6″ Ukrainian Lapin used his height and reach to pick Colin apart. If Colin came close, Lapin would tie him up. The score was 100-90, 99-91 and 99-91. Lapin did not show much strength in the fight, and his habit of frequent clinch was not fun to watch. Somehow he will have his power to have a chance to beat the top contenders in the 175lb division. Without massive power improvements, Lapin won’t get very far.
– You are heavy Andrij Novicki (14-0, 10 KO) used his Buffalo-like fighting style to defeat the overpowered Edgar Ramirez (10-2-1, 4 KO) by a one-sided 10-round unanimous decision.
The score was 98-92, 100-90 and 100-90. The Ukrainian-born 6’6″ Novytskyi, 29, used his jab and takedown style to dominate every round against the slow, light Ramirez all night.
It wasn’t fun to watch, but the style proved effective for Andrij. Novytskiyi did not win fans with his performance, but Bivol became popular with the same approach. So maybe there is hope for him.
– Mohammed Alakel he won against Joshua Ocampo by unanimous decision in a 6-round lightweight fight
