This time there will be one less belt in dispute, but the interest generated by the duel that this Saturday will allow for settling again will not be less. who is the best heavyweight of this time: the ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk will exhibit in Riyadh its sashes of the World Boxing Association (WBA)he World Boxing Council (WBC) and the World Boxing Organization (WBO) before the British Tyson Fury. The lawsuit will begin around 7:30 p.m. and in Argentina it can only be seen through the DAZN platform.
The Kingdom Arena in the Saudi capital, whose 30,000 seats will be occupied, will be the venue for the revenge fight that these two contenders staged on the same stage on May 18 and which turned Usyk into the first undisputed champion of the highest division in the era of the four belts. That day, the Ukrainian, who reached that commitment as monarch of the WBA, the WBO and the International Boxing Federation (IBF), beat the Briton, until then the WBC holder, on points and in a split decision.
However, the undisputed reign lasted only 38 dayssince Usyk vacated the IBF title on June 25, since the organization had ordered him to face its interim champion, the British, immediately after beating Fury Daniel Duboisbut the Ukrainian had already signed a direct rematch with the Gypsy King. After that, Dubois, who was knocked out by Usyk in August 2023, was promoted to regular champion status, defeated his compatriot Anthony Joshua in September at Wembley and has already scheduled a confrontation with the New Zealander Joseph Parker for February 22 in Riyadh.
While the IBF, the body that most respects and enforces its rules (debatable, but rules nonetheless), takes other paths, the real hegemony in the premier category will be put at stake in the new Mecca of world boxing. The left-handed Usyk, 37, who was Olympic champion in London 2012 and, as a professional, was the undisputed cruiserweight monarch, will try to revalidate it. and who has a perfect record made up of 22 victories (14 before the limit). Fury, 36, will try to recover it, who suffered his first setback against the Ukrainian as a renter: until then he had accumulated 34 wins (24 by fast track) and one draw.
In the first confrontation, the Manchester fighter showed a better image in the first seven rounds, taking advantage of his height advantage (2.06 meters against 1.91) and reach (2.15 meters against 1.98), working solidly with his jab and connecting powerful body blows and uppercuts. But from the eighth round onwards, the Simferopol-born fighter took control of the fight. and he was about to knock out his rival in the ninth chapter, in which Fury received a count from referee Mark Nelson. Although the Englishman closed better in the last episode, two of the three judges, the American Mike Fitzgerald (114-113) and the Spanish Manuel Oliver Palomo (115-112), gave the victory to the Gatowhile the Canadian Craig Metcalfe (114-113) saw the winner Gypsy King.
After that defeat, Fury alleged that his preparation had been conditioned by an injury to his right eyelid that had forced the postponement of the fight (initially scheduled for February 17) and that had prevented him from doing sparring sessions. And he revealed that his wife Pariswho was then six months pregnant, had suffered a spontaneous abortion the day before the fight, although he only found out when he returned to England. “When he told me he couldn’t come (to Riyadh the week of the fight), I knew there was a problem. I asked him to tell me, but he didn’t. “She never told me that she had lost the baby, but I knew,” she said.
For this revenge there will be no excuses. “This time it was much easier, I sparred a lot and I was able to train properly,” said the Englishman, who maintained that he would not make major adjustments for this fight. “If it had been a crushing defeat, then I would have to change something drastically, but since it was a very close fight, I don’t really need to change much. I just need to be a little more focused. Why change when I controlled 80% of the fight?” he asked himself. Usyk, on the other hand, imagines a different scenario. “Because Tyson knows what I do and I know what Tyson does, it will be a different fight,” he explained.
In addition to placing the two best heavyweights of the moment face to face, Saturday’s fight will offer a novelty that is bound to generate enormous controversy among specialists and fans of this sport: it will be the first time that artificial intelligence will be used to score a professional fight.
The initiative was born from the specialized magazine The Ringwhich last month was bought by Turki Alalshikhpresident of the General Entertainment Authority (GEA) of Saudi Arabia and new strongman of world boxing. Alalshikh announced on Tuesday that in the rematch between Usyk and Fury “a judge controlled by artificial intelligence” who would be “free of bias and human error” would act, although he made it clear that his work “will not affect the official result” of the fight, which , as usual, will be in charge of three human beings in case there is no categorical definition.
The Saudi tycoon shared a video detailing what criteria the device would use to make its evaluation: “Aggressiveness, blows received, impact, defensive deployments and the probability of victory in real time.” “This is not just artificial intelligence. It is revolutionizing boxing, it is equity driven by technology and human experience,” the short concluded. Almost immediately doubts arose about the possibility that a technological tool is capable of surpassing the appreciation of a human being. The first test will be this Saturday, although the discussion will undoubtedly not be settled then.