Oleksandr Usyk showed the world that his win over Tyson Fury in May was no fluke.
Dec 22 2024
THE curtain came down on another memorable year for the heavyweight division with Oleksandr Usyk’s victory over Tyson Fury.
Their rematch topped a nine-fight Riyadh Season card which produced a few talking points to debate up until the Christmas break. Boxing News brings 10 things we learned from last night’s action.
Oleksandr Usyk. The Ukrainian not only retained his three heavyweight titles but he proved himself to be better than Tyson Fury for a second time. Wins over Derek Chisora, Daniel Dubois, two over Anthony Joshua and Fury make him the best out there by some distance.
No man should be able to carry 281lbs into a boxing ring, fight at the pace he did, compete as well as he did with the high-pressure tactics of Usyk and at the end, look like someone who could have fought another 12 rounds.
He isn’t just one of the greatest fighters of this century but of all time. Since beating Krzysztof Glowacki for the WBO cruiserweight title in 2018, Usyk has won 13 on the spin and all on the road. The list includes Marco Huck, Mairis Briedis, Murat Gassiev, Tony Bellew, Derek Chisora, Anthony Joshua, Daniel Dubois and Tyson Fury. This is the work of a fighter who doesn’t come along very often.
His decision to gate-crash Usyk’s post-fight interview with Ade Oladipo was car crash television. He may be the IBF heavyweight champion and on a great run of form, but what he tried last night backfired badly.
Regardless of how long Usyk and Fury have left in the sport, Itauma will be the man to carry the division on his shoulders for years to come. Demsey McKean was never going to beat him, but he was expected to give him rounds at least. The extra weight Itauma added to his frame didn’t slow him down one bit but it did add to his power. A frightening 19-year-old British talent who is nowhere near his full potential.
Now the WBC mandatory challenger Bohachuk can look forward to a world title shot, hopefully in 2025. Obviously, he will face far stiffer tests than Ishmael Davis, but his style is a nightmare for the super-welterweight division.
It’s rare that a televised boxing card goes without any controversy, but who would have thought Johnny Fisher and Dave Allen would be at the centre of it? Sixty-eight per cent of Boxing News app users had Allen winning in what was a career-best performance. Fisher can count himself very, very lucky to have got the nod on the cards. A rematch is the right thing to do.
After a period in the wilderness, Lee McGregor got his groove back with a points win over Isaac Lowe. It was messy, it was frantic, but when someone needed to go up a level and throw some world-class shots, it was McGregor who delivered. He can look forward to 2025 with a smile on his face.
The Welshman stepped in at short notice to replace Dennis McCann and gave Peter McGrail a bunch of problems last night. Edwards, the natural super-featherweight, was the bigger man but more than that he showed how far he has come under Gary Lockett and despite the narrow loss to McGrail he, like McGregor, could have a massive 2025.
There were four fights from the ‘Reignited’ card which could have headlined in the UK. The standard of UK shows in 2024 hasn’t been good enough. And the argument is, of course, without Riyadh Season, we wouldn’t have gotten the fights they delivered. But the undercards cannot continue to decimate the British boxing calendar.
