Oleksandr Usyk defended his WBC, WBA “super”, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles after a unanimous decision victory over Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia.

The pair originally met in May, when Usyk (23-0, 14 KO) scored a ninth-round knockout split decision victory this added Fury’s WBC title to his wealth of belts.

The two started an offensive attack, but Fury (34-2-1, 24 KO) assessed his attacks and landed a nice left hand in the second round, while a right hand momentarily stunned the champion.

The “Gypsy King” did well to keep Usyk at bay, but the Ukrainian began to augment the pressure in rounds six and seven and was doing better heading into the championship round.

Both men left everything in the ring as they fought for dominance, and the fight looked well-balanced as it went down on the scorecards.

Usyk was declared the winner with three identical scores of 116-112.

The Ukrainian was summoned by IBF heavyweight world champion Daniel Dubois for a rematch, although the Briton will defend his title against Joseph Parker on February 22.

Itauma destroys McKean

Moses Itauma further strengthened his credentials by defeating Demsey McKean in the round.

McKean (22-2, 14 KO) was eliminated in the first half, and after the restart, Itauma’s (11-0, 9 KO) powerful left hand confused him and the fight was stopped.

Bohachuk retires Davis

Super welterweight contender Serhii Bohachuk forced Leeds’ Ishmael Davis to retire after six rounds in their WBC super welterweight final eliminator.

Davis (13-2, 6 KO), who took the fight two weeks in advance after Israil Madrimov withdrew, was eliminated in the second round.

“Black Panther” regrouped and was in good shape, but ultimately lost the lead and retired from a corner kick slow in the sixth round.

Madrimov (25-2, 24 KO) is in pole position to fight the unified WBC and WBO champion Sebastian Fundora.

Fisher is ahead of Allen

Popular Johnny Fisher got into a real fight with Dave Allen before winning the WBA Intercontinental heavyweight title by split decision.

Some powerful punches from Allen (23-7-2, 18 KO) put Fisher (13-0, 11 KO) on the deck and by the fifth round it was all at sea, with the ‘White Rhino’ troubling Romford at regular intervals, but Fisher won by two scores of 95-94 compared to a 96-93 score for Allen.

McGregor dismisses Lowe

In a breakthrough featherweight fight, Lee McGregor (15-1-1, 11 KO) won the vacant WBC International title, defeating Isaac Lowe (25-3-3, 8 KO) on points.

A pair of scores of 97-91 and a third score of 96-92 ensured the Scot won the belt.

Undercard remaining

Andrii Novytskyi (14-0, 10 KO) opened the televised portion of the gala by retaining the WBC International title, scoring against Edgar Ramirez (10-2-1, 4 KO).

Two scores of 100-90 and the third score of 98-92 confirmed Nowycki’s dominance.

In the lightweight heavyweight division, Daniel Lapin won the vacant IBF International title, defeating Frenchman Dylan Colin (14-1, 4 KO).

Lapin (11-0, 4 KO) edged the winner with two scores of 99-91 and a third of 100-90.

Peter McGrail’s cut looked terrible 😨 pic.twitter.com/NsiEtqJdnQ

— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) December 21, 2024

Peter McGrail was supposed to fight Dennis McCann, but after McCann failed a pre-fight doping test, Rhys Edwards (16-1, 4 KO) stepped in and caught up with the Liverpool fighter, before losing points after ten rounds in the featherweight division.

After two scores of 96-94 and one of 96-95, McGrail (11-1, 6 KO) was the winner.

Mohammed Alakel (2-0) won 60-53 over Joshua Ocampo (8-34-5, 6 KO) after six rounds on all three cards.

Many boxing fans were furious after Johnny Fisher secured a controversial victory over Dave Allen ahead of Tyson Fury’s rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.

Two of the three judges scored the fight in Fisher’s favor, even though Allen knocked him down and dominated most of the fight.

Romford Bull had a mighty start and clearly won the opening rounds, but Allen turned things around with a powerful right hand in the fifth. This caused Fisher to hit the canvas and he was lucky to avoid being stopped before the bell.

Allen was in great control for the rest of the fight, but the judges saw it differently, and Fisher inexplicably avoided the first loss of his professional career.

Fans on social media were left baffled by the controversial split decision, with @ATokkers5 posting on X (formerly Twitter): “This is an absolutely terrible robbery. Frightening. Johnny Fisher didn’t win this fight. I’m not a Dave Allen fan, but this is a disgraceful call.”

@johnny33black added: “Boxing can be awesome! This modern AI-powered grading system works better because it’s fucking disgusting. “No person in the world would give that to Johnny Fisher.”

@davidrice17 furious: “What the fuck is the point of boxing? Honestly, it’s no wonder everyone thinks this sport is a joke. Dave Allen won that fight by two or three rounds, everyone knows that, except the f*cking judges scored it.”

Even pop superstar Louis Tomlinson thought Allen did more than enough to win. He wrote: “What an incredible performance from Dave Allen, with so much at stake and under so much pressure. Completely robbed of judges. You were proud, buddy!”

Clamorous boos could be heard as the judges’ scorecards were read at Kingdom Arena in Riyad, while Allen looked surprised as he tried to understand the decision.

Sky Sports Box Office commentator Shane McGuigan said: “I thought it was very effortless to score. This is what boxing is all about, this is what business is all about.

“Close rounds, when you’re leaning towards a guy who’s selling five, six thousand tickets, sometimes those are the decisions that lean towards that player. I would be very, very, very disappointed if I were Dave Allen’s cornerback position.”

Mykhailo Mudryk was spotted in the crowd at the Kingdom Arena in Riyad ahead of Tyson Fury’s heavyweight rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.

The Chelsea winger, who was temporarily suspended from football after failing a drug test, appears to be backing Usyk for the highly anticipated clash in Saudi Arabia.

He was spotted at ringside during the early fights on the undercard and will be hoping his fellow Ukrainian can handle the Gypsy King.

Usyk defends his WBA, WBC and WBO heavyweight titles after defeating Fury on points earlier this year. If he secures another victory, his legacy as one of the best boxers in the world will be set in stone.

Earlier this week, it was confirmed that Mudryk had returned a “negative result” on a routine urine test. He is still waiting for the result of his “B” sample and if the result is positive, he could face a long ban.

He maintained his innocence, emphasizing that he had never knowingly broken any rules or taken any banned substances.

In a statement he said: “I can confirm that I have been notified that the sample I provided to the FA contained a banned substance.

As a result of his fleeting suspension, Mudryk will not be able to play for Chelsea in Sunday’s match against Everton. He is also unable to attend sessions at the Blues’ training center in Cobham.

Mudryk has played just 146 minutes in the Premier League this season, largely constrained to appearances in the Conference League, where he scored three goals in four games. He also played in the Carabao Cup twice.

If the “B” sample tests positive for any banned substances, Mudryk will likely face a sedate ban. Paul Pogba was initially banned for four years after returning a sample containing DHEA, a substance known to enhance testosterone levels.

After a successful appeal, the ban was finally shortened to 18 months, and the Frenchman will be able to play freely in matches from March next year.