Round 1
Fury grabbed the center of the ring with his left hand and clawed at his opponent while Usyk tried to find a way out of his opponent’s seven-inch advantage. Each targeted the other’s body with their early offerings. Usyk was six inches shorter, appearing even smaller under the bright lights than he did at the weigh-in. Usyk lands a series of southpaw punches to Fury’s chest. Fury backed into the red corner, put his arms on the ropes, and shook his head defiantly while glaring viciously at his opponent. Usyk connects with an overhand left hand. Despite Fury’s dramatic display, the Ukrainian won handily.
how they scored Brian Graham 10-9 Usyk Judge 10-9 Usyk; 10-9 Usyk; 10-9 Usyk
second round
Usyk caught Fury’s attention with a jab early in the round, and Fury stopped smiling. Smaller guys are stepping down from bigger guys and making cleaner, more efficient throws. Fury lands a smart right hand as he retreats. The Brit then landed a nice shoveling uppercut on him, but that didn’t stop Usyk from going forward. Usyk’s relentless pressure made Fury uncomfortable, although the Gypsy King continued to score with right hands to the body. Close circle.
how they scored Brian Graham 10-9 Usyk Judge 10-9 Angry; 10-9 Angry; 10-9 Usyk
third round
Fury was almost exclusively fighting back from the opening, and he was using his upper body movement to counter Usyk’s attacks and find a place for his right hand to land. Fearless, Usyk continued to charge inside, using pressure to negate his opponent’s massive advantages in height (six inches) and wingspan (seven inches). After two rounds, Fury finally improved his work rate and continued to score points with his punishing jabs. Usyk complained to referee Mark Nelson about a hit to his head. After three quarters, it was a very, very intense battle.
how they scored Brian Graham 10-9 Angry Judge 10-9 Usyk; 10-9 Usyk; 10-9 Fury
fourth round
Fury is certainly in top form right now, landing nice punches with his trademark staccato, in-and-out motion, scoring with his jab and breaking up exchanges with a right uppercut. He lands a crisp right hand that goes forward and Usyk takes it well but definitely feels it. Usyk continued to operate with unrelenting pressure, landing an overhand left that seemed to bother Fury less than he had in previous frames. In four of the scheduled 12 rounds, it was a close contest between a pair of top operators who were evenly matched.
how they scored Brian Graham 10-9 Angry Judge 10-9 Usyk; 10-9 Fury; 10-9 Fury
fifth round
For the first time all night, Fury bravely stepped forward. He’s starting to focus on Usyk’s midsection and is finding his mark. Excellent physicality from the lineal champion. His mugging and clowning against the Ukrainians wasn’t real: he was in the middle of a huge fight. Fury’s shot went well below the waistline and Usyk was obviously not happy with it, but the fight continued. Fury is scoring to the body effectively and Usyk is feeling those hits. The Ukrainians sacrificed their elusiveness for aggressiveness and were the poorer for it. Best bout of the Fury fight.
how they scored Brian Graham 10-9 Angry Judge 10-9 angry; 10-9 angry; 10-9 angry
Round six
Usyk’s body shots did the damage, but the Ukrainian landed a searing right hand in the fight. That trembling Fury! But the Gypsy King seemed to recover quickly thanks to his almost superhuman ability to withstand punches. Now Fury delivers a killer uppercut, a killing blow! Usyk looks hurt! The Ukrainian started to fade with just one minute left in the sixth. Fury seemed to be in control, delivering a steady stream of trained punch combinations and stalking injured foes. He finished the round with his gloves behind his back, taunting his smaller opponent before they retreated to their corners.
how they scored Brian Graham 10-9 Angry Judge 10-9 angry; 10-9 angry; 10-9 angry
seventh round
Fury still maintained control through the first half of the seventh, but we saw Usyk’s output improve in both quantity and quality as he continued to try to find a way to take advantage of Fury’s physical advantage. Usyk landed a big left hand and Fury was cornered at the end of the round, but Fury immediately fought back. One final burst before the bell was enough to win a close match for the Ukrainian. Remarkably, Usyk left his work almost entirely to the body, which had produced such effective results earlier.
how they scored Brian Graham 10-9 Usyk Judge 10-9 angry; 10-9 angry; 10-9 angry
Newsletter Promotion Post
Round 8
Usyk crunches with a right hand upstairs and Fury claws at his nose. The Ukrainians, who just seemed about to lose, are back! Now, he lets his hands go, pounding Fury, regrouping, and dominating the fight. A huge right hand from Usyk appeared to damage Fury’s right eye, causing a gash. Anger bleeds, red everywhere. Usyk is fighting like a great warrior! Fury’s body language isn’t great. A classic match is coming with a scheduled four rounder and nothing can separate these heavyweight fighters!
how they scored Brian Graham 10-9 Usyk Judge 10-9 Usyk; 10-9 Usyk; 10-9 Usyk
Round 9
Apparently, the blood bothers Fury. Suddenly, Usyk found consistent purchasing power with an overhand left hand, a punch we didn’t see from him tonight. One after another, Fury was already panicking! Usyk fires off a flurry of shots, Fury is stuck on the ropes, and as the crowd swells, the Gypsy King is in serious trouble! The big guy is injured and now running around in the ring! The referee may stop it! Fury hasn’t been great in the past, but we’ve never seen him hurt this badly! He stumbles again and falls back into the corner, staying upright only on the turnbuckles, which Nelson correctly calls a knockout. Fury’s eighth slump in his career! He got back to his feet, but there was no doubt that the bell saved him!
how they scored Brian Graham 10-8 Usyk Judge 10-8 Usyk; 10-8 Usyk; 10-8 Usyk
Round 10
Fury had 60 seconds to recover from the beating. Can he survive this round? No one would object if Nelson waved it off in the ninth, but the third man measured the moment well, just like Jack Rice did in the first Wilder game. Oddly enough, Usyk didn’t rush to address the issue, instead allowing Fury valuable time and space to recover. Usyk consistently scores with sparse overhand left hands. The busy Ukrainian did do enough to win the round, but it could have been a fatal mistake three minutes after he brought Fury back from the brink of defeat.
how they scored Brian Graham 10-9 Usyk Judge 10-9 Usyk; 10-9 Usyk; 10-9 Usyk
Round 11
Usyk continued to hit cleaner and more effective shots as the heart-pounding contest progressed into the title match. Despite both men’s exceptional physical prowess in this game, both looked visibly tired with six minutes remaining. Can the former unified lightweight champion close out the fight and hand Fury his first career defeat? The Gypsy King has bounced back admirably from the depths of the ninth round, but will almost certainly need a knockout to retain his belt after Usyk prevailed in another close round.
how they scored Brian Graham 10-9 Usyk Judge 10-9 Usyk; 10-9 Fury; 10-9 Usyk
Round 12
Fury needed to get on Usyk’s side in the final round, but he didn’t. Usyk stepped up in the first half, landing left hand after left hand and leaving his mark on this historic performance. Fury came back hard with some vicious right hands in the final minute, but Usyk continued to score with left hands, giving his opponent no chance when he needed the most attention. A great show between two of the best heavyweights on the planet.
how they scored Brian Graham 10-9 Usyk Judge 10-9 angry; 10-9 angry; 10-9 angry
final grade
Brian Graham 116-111 Usyk Judge 115-112 Usyk; 114-113 Anger; 114-113 Usyk
