A total of four world heavyweight titles will be on the line as reigning WBC titleholder Tyson Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) and current unified champion Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) face-off this Saturday, May 18. Live coverage of the main card begins at 2 p.m. ET on DAZN and ESPN+.
The 12-round fight will get going at Kingdom Arena in Riyadhi, Saudi Arabia. It’ll mark the first undisputed heavyweight boxing fight since Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield in 1999. Ring walks are expected for 6:30 p.m. ET.
Fury returns looking slim and prepared following an eye injury during a February sparring session. The former unified heavyweight champion put up a poor performance and was even knocked down by UFC striker Francis Ngannou last October. However “Gypsy King” managed to earn a split decision win. In February 2020, Fury defeated Deontay Wilder by way of 7th-round TKO and has retained the WBC belt ever since.
Usyk is a two-weight champion, having held multiple world titles in the cruiserweight and heavyweight division. Back in September 2021, Usyk out punched Anthony Joshua to win the WBA, WBO, IBF, and IBO heavyweight belts. After beating Joshua again in a rematch, he would go on to knockout Daniel Dubois last June to keep unified status.
Before the main event, Jai Opetaia and Mairis Briedis will square off for the vacant IBF cruiserweight title. Opetaia is the -650 betting favorite on Draftkings Sportsbook. Briedis enters with +450 odds to win. The favored method of victory is Opetaia to win by knockout (-145).
In the final bout of the night, Fury comes into the bout as the slim favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook. He is a -120 favorite while Usyk is a +100 underdog. The favored method of victory is Usyk to win by decision (+185).
Full Card for Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk
- Main event: Oleksandr Usyk won SD-12 over Tyson Fury (115-112, 114-113, 114-113) Usyk becomes undisputed heavyweight champion
- Jai Opetaia won UD-12 over Mairis Briedis (117-111, 116-112, 116-112) Opetaia wins IBF Cruiserweight title
- Anthony Cacace won TKO-8 over Joe Cordina (0:39) Cacace wins IBF super featherweight title
- Agit Kabayel won KO-7 over Frank Sanchez (2:33)
- Moses Itauma won TKO-2 over Ilja Mezencev (0:50)
- Mark Chamberlain won TKO-1 over Joshua Wahab (2:42)
- Robin Safar won UD-10 over Sergey Kovalev (95-94, 97-92, 99-90)
- David Nyika won TKO-4 over Michael Seitz (2:45)