Oleksandr Usyk was victorious in his rematch against Tyson Fury on December 21 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Ukraine’s two-division undisputed champion defeated his British rival by unanimous decision. After 12 rounds at heavyweight, all three judges scored the fight 116-112.
With the victory, Usyk retained his unified WBA, WBC, and WBO belts, improved to 23-0, 14 KOs, and remained undefeated. Former WBC champion Fury, who lost their first fight in May by split decision, dropped to 34-2-1, 24 KOs, and suffered his second defeat in a row.
In the co-feature, also at heavyweight, Slovakian-born, UK-based southpaw Moses Itauma (11-0, 9 KOs) stopped Australia’s Demsey McKean (22-2, 14 KOs) in the first round, twice dropping him with a big left hand. The official time was 1:57 into the opening round. Itauma retained his WBO Intercontinental title and became the new WBA International and Commonwealth Silver champion.
Also on the card, Serhii Bohachuk (25-2, 24 KOs) of Ukraine stopped Ishmael Davis (13-2, 6 KOs) of the UK in six rounds. Bohachuk scored a knockdown in the second round against his late replacement opponent. The latter’s corner called it a day prior to the start of the seventh round to save their fighter from further punishment.
In other Usyk vs Fury 2 undercard action
Among other Usyk vs Fury 2 results, Johnny Fisher (13-0, 11 KOs) took a controversial split decision against David Allen (23-7-2, 18 KOs) to win the WBA Intercontinental title. In the fifth round, Allen landed a knockdown. After 10 rounds of an all-British heavyweight clash, two judges scored the fight 95-94 in favor of Fisher, while one judge had 96-93 for Allen.
Lee McGregor (15-1-1, 11 KOs) of Scotland defeated Isaac Lowe (25-3-3, 8 KOs) of England by unanimous decision at featherweight. With the scores 96-92, 97-91, and 97-91, he claimed the vacant WBC International belt.
In a 10-round super featherweight matchup, British Peter McGrail (11-1, 6 KOs) earned a unanimous decision against Rhys Edwards (16-1, 4 KOs) of Wales. The scores were 96-95, 96-94, and 96-94.
Polish-born, Ukraine-based Daniel Lapin (11-0, 4 KOs) bested Dylan Colin (14-1, 4 KOs) of France by unanimous decision at light heavyweight. After 10 rounds, one judge scored the fight 100-90, and two other judges had 99-91.
Andrii Novytskyi (14-0, 10 KOs) of Ukraine retained his WBC International heavyweight strap by unanimous decision against Edgar Ramirez (10-2-1, 4 KOs) of Mexico. The 10-round bout ended with the scores 98-92, 100-90, and 100-90.
In the event opener, Mohammed Alakel (2-0) of Saudi Arabia defeated Colombian-born, Spain-based Joshua Ocampo (8-34-5, 6 KOs) by unanimous decision. The latter lost his 19th fight in a row. After six rounds at lightweight, all three scores were 60-53.