Reignited – Full Results Review Of The Biggest Fight In Boxing.

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A-list Hollywood stars such as Jason Statham and elite sportsmen like Francis Ngannou and Ronnie O’Sullivan were all sat ringside for the biggest fight in boxing as they watched Oleksandr Usyk successfully defend his ring magazine, WBC, WBO, WBA and IBO heavyweight titles against Tyson Fury at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday evening.

AND STILL!

A unanimous decision of 116-112 on all three judges scorecards was the verdict read out as ‘The Cat’ retained his unbeaten record and unified heavyweight championship belts in the biggest rematch of the century with ‘The Gypsy King’. A highly skilled contest that was always likely to go the distance when involving the two best heavyweights of the current era.

Usyk’s brilliance shone through as he landed the more eye-catching, clean punches for most of the thirty-six minutes. Where Fury landed some good shots of his own but ultimately was outworked and out-landed on the punch stats, not only by the judges in attendance but by an AI judging system that scored it wider at 118-110 in favour of the defending champion.

Were the Cards Harsh On Fury?

There’s a consensus that Fury won more rounds than he was given on the scorecards, which was only four and his promoter, Frank Warren, had the document in hand as he gave his immediate reaction to the several broadcasting partners that covered the monster event. Fury had already left the ring after being shown he wasn’t given a single round from six onwards by one judge and only one round by the other two.

It’s a rarity that we see the same scoring across the board, albeit they were different rounds there are arguments that Fury did win more by but any cries of robbery can be ignored.

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What’s Next For Both Men?

As mentioned in my preview, Tyson Fury will likely be offered the Anthony Joshua fight in a ‘battle of Britain’ match-up at Wembley Stadium. Eddie Hearn said on the DAZN broadcast that the ‘only’ fight for Fury is with Joshua and will likely sit down with former rival Frank Warren to piece together a package to make the fight happen. Tyson may well choose to decline and retire, but that will be unlikely as he will not want to end his professional career on a defeat. The mouth-watering, long awaited match up with Anthony Joshua will be a highly lucrative one and one that no boxing fan would ignore, even if it may feel a bit too late, it will still have the eyes of the world watching.

Usyk will now have a short break from the sport as he decides his next move, whether that will be the return to cruiserweight as mentioned in the build-up to the second fight with Fury. Or he may chose to accept the challenge of Daniel Dubois who entered the ring on Saturday evening and declared he wants a rematch with the unbeaten two weight undisputed champion, however, Dubois has the get through Joseph Parker in February as he makes the second defence of his IBF belt.

Is Moses Itauma The Hottest Prospect In Boxing?

After a stunning first-round knockout over Demsey McKean in Riyadh, Moses Itauma moved to 11-0 as a professional. He was already being sounded out as one of the brightest young talents in world boxing. After his spectacular performance on Saturday, he has made his case as being the brightest, putting the division on notice by obliterating a man 15 years his senior.

There is an art to building a boxer, and he has been moved at the correct pace by Queensberry promotions thus far in his career. With wins over many international opponents, it now looks likely the teenage prodigy will be involved in a domestic dust-up; the British Boxing Board Of Control has ordered the current English champion David Adelaye to defend his strap against his fellow promotional stablemate.

If that fight isn’t to happen, there are more names out there at the domestic level that could whet the appetite of Itauma. After his huge win over McKean, it could be the start of a constructed and measured run towards a world title shot, as that is the point where the Australian was at until December last year when he was stopped in the final round by Filip Hrgovic, who was then the IBF interim champion. Hrgovic went on to lose that status to Daniel Dubois, who was elevated to full champion, then solidified that with a spiteful knockout over Anthony Joshua.

That just goes to show that he isn’t that far behind the current crop at the top, and with the heavyweight division in the best place it’s been for years with every man in a cycle of fighting one another, it will be an exciting 2025 for the fresh, hard-hitting Moses Itauma.

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Another Controversial Decision

After a fight of two halves, Johnny Fisher walked away with a split decision victory by one point over Dave Allen, who scored a knockdown in round five. After the unbeaten Fisher touched the canvas, it was clear he was out on his feet and did extremely well to return punches to the forthcoming Allen, who landed several eye-catching uppercuts and looped overhand rights.

The scorecards were unfair to Allen who won the second half of the fight with the knockdown the difference. A possible rematch could be on the cards, and with both fighters huge fan favourites and ticket sellers, it could potentially be held at London’s o2 arena, which both fighters referred to in a conversation with IFL TV the next day.

Isaac Lowe vs Lee McGregor

An action-packed ten rounds between Isaac Lowe and Lee McGregor resulted in the Scot, McGregor, walking away with a unanimous decision victory that included two ten-eight rounds from Lowe repeatedly losing his gumshield. After the fourth time of losing his mouthpiece, the referee ignored it and let both boxers carry on for the thirty seconds or so that remained.

For the majority of the contest, it was a scrappy affair that wasn’t easy on the eye, but some good shots were returned from both fighters. McGregor landed the cleaner work and now places himself in a good position to get bigger and better opportunities. The youngest boxer to win boxer to win British, Commonwealth and European titles he will now look to get back on the path to boxing for world honours.