BOXING

What is Oleksandr Usyk’s condition after historic victory over Tyson Fury?

Saturday night saw the Ukrainian become the first heavyweight champion to unify all available belts in roughly 25 years, but he did so at great cost.

Andrew CouldridgeAction Images via Reuters

It was a bout for the ages and one that saw both boxers give as good as they got, but in the end, it was the Ukrainian who got the better of the Brit, though he did come away with a keep-sake that he probably didn’t want.

Oleksandr Usyk suffered a broken jaw vs Tyson Fury

As you would surely have seen by now, it was Oleksandr Usyk who came out on top after going 12 rounds with Tyson Fury in a monumental boxing match on Saturday evening. Unfortunately for the Ukrainian, while he may have come out victorious, he did not do so unscathed. Indeed, reports now confirm that the 37-year-old who is now the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era, was taken to the hospital after the fight to examine what has been described as a broken jaw.

Truthfully, his absence from the scheduled post-fight media scrum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was already the source of speculation, before promoter Frank Warren informed the media that Usyk was rushed to the hospital after breaking his jaw at some point during the fight. Needless to say, it was somewhat news when considering the idea that it was Usyk who seemed to land the majority of the harder blows during the fight, most noticeably in Round 9 when his flurry of punches resulted in the sole knockdown of the bout.

Of course, one has to imagine that injury aside, Usyk will be extremely pleased with himself now that he is the victor of the first undisputed heavyweight title fight since 2000. Where the details are concerned, it would be fair to say that it was Fury who controlled the early rounds of the fight, before Usyk began to turn things around in the 7th round, culminating with the aforementioned knockdown in Round 9 that nearly brought an early end to the previously undefeated champion. Ultimately, Usyk won a dramatic split decision with the scorecards reading 115-112, 113-114, and 114-113.

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