Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury II was close, uncontroversial and freighted with meaning
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Oleksandr Usyk’s triumph over Tyson Fury in Riyadh was barely noticed beyond Ukraine and Britain. That’s a shame because it was an important fight and a good one. Once upon a time, the world stopped to watch when the heavyweight championship was at stake. Oleksandr Usyk’s unanimous-decision triumph over Tyson Fury in Riyadh on Saturday was barely noticed. There were pockets of interest in the fighters’ Ukrainian and English homelands. But beyond that, the response was muted. Indeed, the promotion all but wrote off the United States market by scheduling the fight opposite the first round of the College Football Playoff tournament. That meant there was even less media attention for Usyk-Fury II in America than would otherwise have been the case and fewer fans buying the pay-per-view.
![[Oleksandr Usyk addresses the media after retaining his heavyweight titles in Riyadh.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/c7ccaeded6059d1033e0eacb986c9e3661895d9a/0_0_4431_3210/master/4431.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
That’s a shame because it was an important fight and a good one. It’s hard to say that Fury has a “larger than life personality” because, at 6ft 9in tall and weighing 280lb, Tyson is extremely large. But his personality is equal to his size. He’s loud. He’s profane. He’s mercurial. And he can fight.
Unlike Fury, Usyk doesn’t stir passions. Outside of Ukraine, he could walk unnoticed down almost any street in the world. He has thrived and surprised in the heavyweight ranks by beating larger, harder-punching men like Fury (twice), Anthony Joshua (twice) and Daniel Dubois. He is an exemplary sportsman.
