The historic heavyweight boxing milestone that the winner of Fury vs Usyk will reach

There is no title in any sport in the world that matches the heavyweight boxing champion. Not the World Cup, not the Super Bowl, not the Ashes or the Stanley Cup. None. Boxing’s heavyweight world champion is the king of all prizewinners. They stand alone.

With multiple governing bodies, there are often two and sometimes three different world champions at any time. When the dust settles on Saturday’s historic Ring of Fire event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, there will be only one. A giant amongst men, a king standing alone above all the worldwide sporting landscape.

In the process, a new milestone will have been reached in heavyweight boxing. Not since 1999 has the heavyweight division had an undisputed champion. Back then, Britain’s greatest ever champion Lennox Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield to unite all of the titles. But there was a significant difference back then.

The WBO belt was not included in that haul. Back then, the boxing world was ruled by three governing bodies: the IBF, WBA, and WBC. Since 1999, the WBO has been included into the lexicon as the fourth great belt to hold.

The winner on Saturday will not only become the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the 21st century, but the first undisputed champion ever in the four-belt era.

The job is a tough one for both men, each with a steep hill to climb. Tyson Fury is undefeated at 34-0-1, knocking out 24 men along the way. He is a two-time world champion, the WBC lineal champion, and will not trade his belt cheaply.

In front of him stands Oleksandr Usyk, undefeated as well at 21-0-0, with 14 knockout wins. He was the undisputed cruiserweight champion before stepping up in weight and snatching up the WBA, WBO, and IBF belts.

This is a clash of titans, a war which pits two of the greatest athletes on the planet against each other. Toe to toe, stripped to the waist, using only the front of their hands, the purity of boxing is its greatest asset. You can’t rely on equipment, use trickery or simply run the clock out and expect to win. You have to hit to score, and to do that you have to allow yourself to get into your opponent’s range, opening yourself up to being hit as well.

At the end of Saturday night, only one man will stand alone, on top of the world. The greatest heavyweight champion. Undisputed.