Rewind! Was Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury 1 a Fair Result?

Opinion: Re-scoring Usyk vs. Fury 1.

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I haven't watched Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury 1 since April. Even still, I vividly remember scoring the bout unanimously for Usyk and was shocked to hear a Fury scorecard read out during the results.

As the two heavyweight greats gear up for their rematch this weekend, I wanted to go ahead and rewatch and rescore their fight to see if I come to a different conclusion. Maybe it was closer than I remembered, maybe a split scorecard is a fair result? Let's find out.

(Disclaimer: This is all subject to author opinion)

Re-Scoring Usyk-Fury 1

Round 1: Usyk 10-9 Fury

Usyk takes round one with his pressure and body attacks. Fury lands a few good jabs but most of his offense is parried or evaded. Usyk corners Fury in the latter stages of the round, and lands the better shots throughout.

Round 2: Usyk 20-18 Fury

Ring generalship and early offense from Usyk steals the round. He begins to land to Fury's head, but Fury begins to find the timing on his rear-hand uppercut in the final seconds.

Round 3: Usyk 30-27 Fury

Fury starts to find his range and land some promising offense, but he lacks activity and keeps letting Usyk work. Usyk is still investing in the body and has Fury against the ropes on several occasions; his activity is paying dividends and wins him this round.

Round 4: Usyk 39-37 Fury

Fury's first round. He lands with a good rate and begins to find a home for his uppercut and bodyshots, breaking Usyk's composure several times. Usyk isn't far behind, landing effective bodyshots but just whiffing the bigger punches up top.

Round 5: Usyk 48-47 Fury

Fury's best round so far. He softens up Usyk to the body and the Ukrainian starts to look weathered. Not as much effective offense from Usyk this round as he struggles to enter range.

Round 6: Usyk 57-57 Fury

Absolutely Fury's round as the Brit controls Usyk for the majority and appears to rock him with a smashing uppercut partway through.

Round 7: Usyk 67-66 Fury

Tight round, though Fury took his foot off the gas and allowed Usyk to land the better head shots, forcing an audible gasp from the crowd at one point.

Round 8: Usyk 77-75 Fury

Usyk's round, he lands clean with several left hands, rocking and bloodying Fury.

Round 9: Usyk 87-83 Fury

Usyk gets the 10-8 for forcing an eight-count on Fury. Fury absolutely saved by the bell.

Round 10: Usyk 97-92 Fury

All Usyk in round ten as Fury looks to recover while Usyk keeps a tempered pace.

Round 11: Usyk 107-101 Fury

Fury starts to find his rhythm again but Usyk is controlling the range and landing the better shots. He clubs Fury in the dying seconds which seals the deal for me.

Round 12: Usyk 117-110 Fury

Very urgent round from both men but Usyk landed the better shots and controlled Fury's ring position for a majority of the round.

Verdict: 117-110 Usyk

I thought Usyk won unanimously, and a Fury scorecard would have been justifiable if you had given him two or three swing rounds. However, the optics of the fight would have completely betrayed a Fury victory; he was almost finished in round nine and took the worst shots all night.

The commentary team were especially bias, giving too much credit to Fury forfeiting space and taking shots against the ropes. Most of Fury's punches landed to the guard, but the power differential combined with hitting Usyk's gloves gave the impression that he landed big. The best shot Fury landed was in round six, and he didn't do much else after this.

So if we take it on face value, Usyk pushed the pace, landed cleaner and more accurately throughout, he almost finished Fury in round nine, and cruised through 10-12. I can't make an argument for Fury winning.

With that said, I think Fury has less adjustments to make for the rematch. Although Usyk was the better boxer, I thought he was more vulnerable especially to the rear-uppercut. It was an uphill battle but he never stepped off the gas.

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