WBA, WBO and IBF world champion Oleksandr Usyk won a convincing victory in a unification match against WBC title holder Tyson Fury. This fight was recognized as historic even before it began, because for the first time four championship belts were at stake, which until now no one had managed to collect in one hand in the heavyweight category.

The first half of the fight was fairly even. Tyson Fury used his advantage in size, but the Ukrainian boxer was able to successfully hit his opponent in the head several times. The British boxer also had several successful uppercut attacks. Until the ninth round, the judges evaluated the fight with a minimal advantage in favor of Fury. However, in the ninth round, Usyk made a spectacular attack and delivered a series of powerful blows. Fury missed three shots to the head and barely stayed on his feet, leaning on the ropes. The referee in the ring stopped Usyk's attack and started the knockdown countdown for the Briton, who was barely able to stay on his feet. Tyson, however, did not fall and was saved by a gong. The last three rounds took place in a more or less equal fight with a slight advantage of the Ukrainian.

After the match, Usyk's manager Oleksandr Krasiuk expressed the opinion that «the referee deprived the Ukrainian of the opportunity to finish the fight with a knockout».

According to the results of the duel, two out of three judges awarded the victory to Oleksandr Usyk, while one judge decided that Tyson Fury was stronger. After the defeat, Fury expressed his displeasure with the judges' evaluations, noting that they favored Usyk due to the fact that his country was at war. At the post-match press conference, Fury said that his team thought until the end that he was leading by points, so he did not increase the intensity of attacks at the end of the fight. Despite this, he admitted that the Ukrainian «caught» him in the ninth round. Fury also urged Usyk to hold a rematch, to which Usyk previously agreed.

In 2022, in an interview with the BBC, Usyk said that he would become the absolute world champion. Prior to this fight, the 35-year-old Fury had 35 wins and one draw, while Usyk had won all 21 of his fights.

Usyk came to the weigh-in ceremony before the fight with Fury in a brightly embroidered dress, on the back of which was an image of Oleksandr Matsievskyi and a poem dedicated to this military man. Matsievsky was shot by the Russians after he shouted «Glory to Ukraine».

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi reacted to Usyk's victory, writing on social networks: «Ukrainians are hitting hard! And in the end, all our opponents will be overcome. Oleksandr Usyk is the absolute world champion! A difficult battle that proves: Ukrainian endurance and strength give birth to Ukrainian victory».

Usyk's weight at the pre-fight weigh-in was 101.2 kg, which is the biggest in his career, but less than the weight of Tyson Fury, who weighed 118.8 kg, according to Sky Sports Boxing.

Negotiations between the teams of Fury and Usyk were long and difficult, and the duel was postponed several times. The contract for the fight provides for a mandatory rematch. The fight took place at the Kingdom Arena in the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh.