Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury live updates: Fight card results, ring ...

Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury will renew hostilities in Saudi Arabia today, after the Ukrainian won their first fight in May via split decision to become boxing’s first four-belt heavyweight champion.

Fury’s defeat six months ago was the first of his 16-year professional career. Follow live coverage below.

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Despite Amnesty International’s pleas earlier this year, both Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk have stayed stubbornly silent on the human rights situations in Saudi Arabia, which in 2023 was ranked as the world’s most authoritarian regime by Freedom House.

That probably shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering that, ahead of his first fight in the country, Fury said that he preferred the Saudi government to the one back home in the United Kingdom.

“We’re on about governments?” he replied, when asked about the treatment he had received in Saudi Arabia by the boxing video channel iFL TV. “What has the (UK) government ever done special treatment (sic) for the Gypsy King?

“Do they even get me through customs at Heathrow Airport? Quicker than anybody else? Or do I wait for two hours in a queue? Tell me that.

“Here, in Saudi Arabia, special treatment for the big GK. Every single day. All day, every day. Having teas with the head of government. I’ve never even had a thank you letter (in the UK). Nothing. I’ve never even had a well done. The amount of money I have raised in London over the last two fights. Hundreds of millions I’ve brought to London. Never got one thank you for it.

“Here, I’ve got the government very happy that I’m here.”

In recent months and years Saudi Arabia has become an important epicentre of international sport, staging numerous significant events in football, golf, Formula 1 and many others.

But numerous critics have claimed the nation is only investing in sport to gain international legitimacy and deflect attention from controversy over the kingdom’s human rights record.

This is something other authoritarian states — such as China and Qatar — have also been accused of and has been called ‘sportswashing’.

And, ahead of their first fight, both Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk were encouraged to “speak out” about the “urgent need for human rights reform” in Saudi Arabia.

Amnesty International told the BBC that Fury and Usyk should “acknowledge the way that this fight fits into a pattern of Saudi sportswashing”.

Today’s fight is just the latest big boxing event to be staged at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, which also serves as the home ground of Saudi Arabian football club Al Hilal, the most decorated side in Asia with the likes of Neymar, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Kalidou Koulibaly on their books.

Previously the 26,000-venue stadium staged the first fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury, as well as the latter’s narrow split decision victory over Francis Ngannou, along with Anthony Joshua’s victories over the same opponent and Otto Wallin.

If you live in the United Kingdom you have a few different options. DAZN are showing the fight for £24.99, which also includes one month’s DAZN subscription. But you will be charged for an additional month if you forget to cancel the subscription after the fight.

The fight will also be shown on TNT Sports Box Office and Sky Sports Box Office. Both of those options cost £24.99, too.

In the United States, the pay-per-view is available for the higher price of $39.99 on DAZN.

It has now been confirmed that American judge Ignacio Robles will join officials Pat Morley and Gerardo Martinez at ringside.

Steve Weisfeld, who made the journey to Saudi Arabia on Thursday night and was the preferred choice of Tyson Fury’s camp, was also in contention to assess the bout. But a coin toss determined Robles will officiate instead, in an early victory for Team Usyk.

Dressed as a hitman to the October press conference, Usyk handed Fury photos to sign of the Englishman being punched in the face from the first fight.

At Thursday’s press conference, he told Fury: “Do not be afraid, I will not leave you alone. See you on Saturday.”

Usyk has previously beaten Britain’s best boxers, including Fury, Derek Chisora, Tony Bellew, Dubois, and Joshua twice.

Fury has always bounced back in his other rematches. After drawing his first bout with American Deontay Wilder, Fury went on to defeat him in their two matches thereafter. He fought and beat Chisora and John McDermott twice. But Usyk handed Fury his first professional loss, so the Brit will have to return from defeat for the first time.

Fury has said he has made sacrifices for this bout, notably not speaking to his wife or children for three months while in camp. Usyk’s preparations have, he said, included daily phone calls with his family during his training camp in Malta.

Only three of the four world titles will be on the line for the rematch as the IBF title now belongs to Daniel Dubois, winner of the IBF ‘interim’ heavyweight world title when he beat Filip Hrgovic in June. Dubois became the holder of the IBF belt after Usyk was forced to vacate it, the IBF stripping the Ukrainian of the belt as his next fight wasn’t against their mandatory challenger Dubois, who went on to retain his IBF title by beating Anthony Joshua in September.

The winner in Riyadh will be a unified champion, which is when a fighter holds two belts or more, but not an undisputed champion, which requires all four governing body titles. The four-belt era in boxing began in 2007 when the World Boxing Organization (WBO) became the fourth major sanctioning body.

A recap: The judges scored the May contest narrowly in favour of Oleksandr Usyk, the scorecards reading 115-112 and 114-113 to Usyk with a third scoring the contest 114-113 to Tyson Fury.

In round nine, Usyk rocked the man known as “The Gypsy King” with a series of unanswered punches, leaving him bouncing off the ropes of all four sides of the ring for a knockdown. In that round alone, Usyk landed 24 punches, eight more than his taller opponent.

Usyk landed more power punches overall in May’s contest, 122 to 95, and was more efficient with his shots, landing 42 per cent compared to Fury’s 32 per cent.

The Ukrainian was emotional inside the ring after becoming the first undisputed champion of the four-belt era and then in the post-fight press conference tearfully paid tribute to his late father who died in 2012. In his post-fight interview, Fury said he had “won that fight”.

Ed Mackey, staff editor: “I reckon Tyson Fury will win today. Last time he got his tactics all wrong. He even seemed to underestimate Oleksandr Usyk. But this time he is a lot bigger and seemingly a lot more serious, too. And if he walks Usyk down early in the fight it will be very different for Usyk to cope with him.”

Luke Bosher, news editor: “Oleksandr Usyk has had bigger, tougher heavyweights attempting to walk him down for years now. He has shown he is a good enough boxer to handle that tactic. I don’t see this fight being any different to the first. Usyk to win on points. And both men to retire afterwards.”

Britain’s Daniel Dubois has favoured Tyson Fury, telling Podlounge UK: “I hope our man does it. Usyk is capable. Fury should jump on him and smother him. Fury is a slick boxer too, but it will be a great fight and I’ll be out there calling on to fight the winner.”

Lennox Lewis, who was the last boxer before Usyk to be the undisputed heavyweight champion, said on Droeks on Boxing that he thought the Ukrainian would win as Usyk had “proven himself time and time again, and he’s still undefeated”.

“It really comes down to who boxes the best, who is smart in the ring. I didn’t think Tyson Fury was smart in the first fight. I think he played around a little bit too much and allowed Oleksandr Usyk to really pile up the points,” Lewis added.

“Oleksandr Usyk is a difficult opponent. He moves all the time, he’s always throwing punches, he’s in great shape, and that’s hard to beat.”

Raf N: “I am looking forward to this today but I cannot see it going Fury’s way! He was not only poor in his last fight but also against Ngannou. Usyk on the other hand was at his best in the first fight and I think he will win on points again.”

James H: “Tyson underestimated Usyk last time but he looks as though he has made the necessary adjustments to walk down and stop him. I am backing Fury. And I hope I am right because I would love to see a trilogy and then possibly Fury vs Joshua too.”

Nic P: “Why has nobody predicted Usyk to win by stoppage!? He almost did it last time. I’m not saying I think it will happen but it is surely a possibility given what we saw in the first fight.”

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Tonight’s co-feature fight sees Serhii Bohachuk take on Ishmael Davis in a light-middleweight title eliminator.

Ukraine’s Bohachuk (24-2) had been due to take on the former champion Israil Madrimov (10-1-1), only for the latter to fall ill with acute bronchitis. That saw Britain’s Davis (13-1) given the nod.

Davis is a significant underdog. He lost last time out, to compatriot Josh Kelly, his first opponent at true world level. And Bohachuk is even more dangerous, despite the fact he is also coming in off a loss, in a thrilling fight with Vergil Ortiz Jr.

Tonight’s fight is a title eliminator, with the winner being eligible to challenge reigning king Sebastian Fundora for his WBC belt.

Tonight sees the return of Moses Itauma to the ring — one of the most exciting prospects in British boxing.

19-year-old Itauma already boasts an unblemished professional record of 20-0 and has stopped his last six opponents within two rounds.

Today he takes on Australia’s Demsey McKean (22-1) who is undoubtedly his most experienced opponent yet. McKean also possessed an undefeated record until he was stopped by the experienced Filip Hrgovic last time out.

“I need to be in a fight where people think I'm not going to win or it's too early, so I can come and prove them wrong,” Itauma told the BBC earlier this week.

“My whole career has been people saying, ‘he’s going to go in there, he’s going to knock them out’, and what excitement do I get out of that?

“The thing is, even after all the fights Demsey McKeen has had, I feel like I am still the A-side.”

Johnny Fisher’s fight with Dave Allen has already generated plenty of buzz. The British heavyweights both have big followings on social media — although they are at very different stages of their careers.

Fisher (12-0) signalled his heavyweight credentials by demolishing Alen Babic in just 36 seconds in his last fight, in July. The 25-year-old spoke about challenging for the British title after that fight, currently held by Fabio Wardley.

Allen (23-6-2), on the other hand, is in the process of rebuilding after losing to Frazer Clarke last year. In 2024 he has outpointed Jake Darnell (2-25) and Amine Boucetta (8-14), with Fisher representing a big step up in difficulty.

“I was given a fantastic opportunity and I plan to take it with both hands,” Allen said earlier this week. “I genuinely believe this is my time to fulfil my potential.”

There was a late change to today’s running order when European super-bantamweight champion Dennis McCann (17-0) returned an adverse drug test finding.

McCann — a 23-year-old Englishman who is undefeated in 17 fights — had been scheduled to face Liverpool’s Peter McGrail (10-1) later today.

Fortunately for McGrail he will remain on the card and will instead take on the undefeated Rhys Edwards (16-0).

“Fight plans change. We just remained focused,” McGrail said earlier this week. “I had faith that they were going to get a replacement and that’s what happened. I stayed focused on the job. The job remains the same. I’m coming for the big performance on Saturday.”

There has been more than a touch of bad blood ahead of today’s featherweight showdown between Isaac Lowe (25-2-3) and Lee McGregor (14-1-1).

The pair had to be separated by security after they clashed at yesterday’s weigh-ins, with Lowe telling his rival he “has no heart”.

“That's one thing I’ve got and I've got it massively,” McGregor commented afterwards. “You cannot question my heart. So I told him that.”

The vacant WBC International featherweight title is on the line, with both men hoping victory today could move them into the world title picture. The USA’s Brandon Figueroa holds the WBC belt, with Rafael Espinoza (WBO), Angelo Lee (IBF) and Nick Ball (WBA) holding the others.