Usyk beats Tyson Fury again in rematch

Oleksandr Usyk beat Tyson Fury to retain the unified WBA, WBC and WBO world heavyweight titles; Fury and Usyk were fighting a second time after the Ukrainian beat him in May to become the undisputed world heavyweight champion

Oleksandr Usyk overcame Tyson Fury to defend his unified world heavyweight championships at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.

Usyk prevailed over the course of 12 intense rounds as momentum shifted first from one then to the other.

Eventually though he handled Fury's aggression, edging ahead of his challenger and winning by unanimous decision.

All three judges agreed on 116-112 and all saw Usyk winning.

Usyk had handed Fury a first professional defeat earlier this year, making history as he became the undisputed heavyweight world champion, the first in 25 years since the reign of Lennox Lewis.

It was a high point in an outstanding career that has seen the Ukrainian already go undisputed at cruiserweight as well as win Olympic gold at London 2012.

But he was in no mood to concede his position as the world-leading heavyweight to Fury.

That victory in May had also taken Usyk's rivalry with Fury to new heights of intensity. The Briton had worked with brutal ferocity to improve on his last performance and he remained the sternest challenge for Usyk in the division.

Pursuing this rematch did mean Usyk had to shed the IBF title, now held by Britain's Daniel Dubois, but his unified WBO, WBA and WBC world heavyweight championships were on the line. — skysports