SUMMARY
- Tyson Fury will fight Oleksandr Usyk to become the first Undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the modern four-belt era.
- However, Usyk's resume looks much better when compared to Fury's.
Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk are all set to have their historic matchup this weekend. After much delay and deliberation, the matchup will finally go ahead. Understandably, considering the stakes at play, many have been waiting eagerly for this fight.
For those unaware, Oleksandr Usyk will take on the lineal heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury after much buildup. Originally, the heavyweight title unification bout was touted for April 2023, however, the two parties were unable to come to an agreement. Thus, the fight was then targeted for December 2023 instead, after Fury’s fight against former UFC champion Francis Ngannou.
𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐏 𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐏𝐔𝐓𝐄𝐃.
👑 #FuryUsyk | MAY 18 | @ESPNPlus PPV pic.twitter.com/ZrC7zG6Jvy
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) May 12, 2024
Whilst the WBC heavyweight champion seemingly assumed that he would make light work of Ngannou, he was only able to scrape by with a controversial decision. That said, injuries sustained by him during the fight meant that the Usyk fight needed to be postponed to February 2024. Once again, Fury suffered an injury in sparring only weeks removed from the fight. Now on May 18, we will finally get to see the matchup.
How does Tyson Fury’s resume stack up against Oleksandr Usyk?
For the most part, one of the biggest talking points coming into this one has been around how Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk stack up against each other. Seeing that the fight will be massive for either fighter’s legacy, it only makes sense for us to compare their resumes up until now. That said, some would suggest that Tyson Fury’s record, since his comeback in 2018 has not aged well.
Previously, ‘The Gypsy King’ beat Wladimir Klitschko in 2015, which was followed by a hiatus owing to depression and other substance-related problems. Since his return in 2018, Fury has gone on to face Deontay Wilder on three separate occasions, along with Dillian Whyte, and Derek Chisora among others. Despite a fight against Anthony Joshua touted for a long time, it never materialized, leading to some doubt regarding Fury’s dominance.
At the same time, his wins against Deontay Wilder have aged like milk, with the American’s latest humbling at the hands of Joseph Parker. On the other hand, Oleksandr Usyk is a former undisputed cruiserweight champion, making a case for himself at heavyweight. During his run at heavyweight, Usyk has beaten Chisora, Anthony Joshua (x2), and Daniel Dubois as well. Considering Fury’s near loss to Francis Ngannou as well, it has further brought him down in the eyes of many.
Where does the winner of Fury-Usyk rank in boxing’s P4P rankings?
By all means, the fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will have massive implications. After all, for the first time in three decades, since Lennox Lewis in 1999, we will witness the crowning of an undisputed heavyweight champion. As such, it is a massive opportunity for either fighter to etch their names in the history books and go down as one of the greatest of all time.
However, some may consider the situation to be tipped in favor of Oleksandr Usyk a little more than Fury. After all, if Usyk manages to become the undisputed heavyweight champion, he will possibly leapfrog Naoya Inoue and Terrence Crawford as boxing’s pound-for-pound king. Having claimed undisputed status in two weight classes, with the latter having no upper limit, it would make his case for the spot, even more compelling.
At the same time, by becoming the undisputed WBA, WBC, IBF & WBO heavyweight world champion, Usyk would further condemn Tyson Fury‘s legacy and all that he has achieved up until now. That said, if Fury wins, he will undeniably go down as one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. However, at the same time, a loss for Usyk will not be as demeaning and devastating as it will be for Fury, seeing as he is the smaller man chasing greatness in a different weight class.