Undefeated HWs: #1 Tyson Fury vs. #2 Oleksandr Usyk round-by-round scoring (+Sanchez vs. Kabayel)

Here it is: #1 vs. #2, undefeated vs. undefeated.

Tyson Fury (34-0-1) vs. Oleksandr Usyk (21-0-0) in Saudi Arabia.

Not only is it the first #1 vs. #2 since 2009, but it's the first battle between an undefeated #1 and undefeated #2 since June 1988 when #1 Michael Spinks was KOed by #2 Mike Tyson (and prior to that? #1 Joe Frazier KOed by #2 George Foreman in January 1973, and before that Ali vs. Frazier in March of 1971).

And also on the main card: #6 Frank Sanchez (24-0-0) vs. #17 Agit Kabayel (24-0-0)—another undefeated vs. undefeated heavyweight bout!

Following Jai Opetaia's win over Mairis Briedis comes the main event next. Ring walk should be soon.

Ring walk is over, intros are over, now the fight:

#1 Tyson Fury vs. #2 Oleksandr Usyk round-by-round scoring

1. Fury keeping distance to use his reach, Usyk using movement and feints. Both going for body with jabs. Strong body shot from Fury. Usyk punches out of the clinch. Fury with arms low but right hand up, Fury holds ropes and mugs for the crowd. Jab and right to body from Fury, solid uppercut from Usyk. Fury avoids followups. Hard to score round, really weird action after midway point. 10-10
2. Power shot from Usyk with left looping hook right off the bat, Fury backing up now. Working the jab. More goofing from Fury. Usyk backing Fury up again, connects with left to body. Usyk connecting with the harder shots, good right from Fury though. Combo from Usyk. Good uppercut from Fury but that opening shot was the difference, have to give Usyk credit this time 10-9 Usyk; 20-19
3. Fury moving more at the start of this round, trying to find his way in, connects a few times. Jabs his way out of the corner and lands a 1-2. Usyk pushing his way in though, connects to body and face. Another left from Usyk mostly blocked. Usyk racing to catch Fury as he moves around. Double jab and left from Fury but Usyk connects on a combo near the end. Another close one, can't quite give that one to Fury or Usyk. 10-10; Usyk 30-29
4. Usyk very aggressive at start, two uppercuts to body from Fury though. Jab and uppercut from Fury. Fury clowning after another mild combo. Clash of heads. Good uppercut from Fury. Fury ducks in and connects with a right, clowns again. Usyk corners Fury, who blocks and ducks most of the combo. 10-9 Fury; 39-39
5. Fury snaps Usyk's head back with a jab. Still moving in, Fury backs him up with body shots. Usyk is undaunted. Action is very fast, let's see who gets tired. Usyk claims a low blow but is unaffected. Double jab by Fury. Fury holding him off this round for the most part. Good body shot. Fury getting the better of the exchanges this round. Solid round for Fury as last few seconds bleed off. 10-9 Fury; 49-48
6. Both fighters very active once again to start the round, neither is taking any rounds off here. Fury combo punches are blocked for the most part. Huge uppercut whiffs for Fury. Monster body shot wobbles Usyk, then another one clearly hurts him. Usyk keeping distance now. Big punches from Fury but defended well by Usyk. Fury slowing down a bit after that flurry of activity. Usyk moving forward again. Fury 10-9; 59-57
7. Fury backed into corner, pushes his way out. Usyk still has lots of life in him, pretty much refreshed from last round, connected with a few strong shots. Big uppercut to the face from Fury. Power jab from Usyk to Fury's face. Fury combo and he walks away to the right, almost turning his back to Usyk. Great combo from Usyk but Fury is unaffected and returns fire. Another close one 10-10; Fury 69-67
8. Usyk has a cut over his right eyebrow. Three shot combo from Fury but Usyk returns fire. Incredible start. Great combo from Usyk, who is really coming on early in the round. Great 1-2 from Usyk, Fury pretends it didn't hurt. Usyk counterpunching more now, Fury more tentative. Another shot to Fury's nose, Fury clinches. Right from Usyk, now Fury's hands are up. Clear round for Usyk 10-9; Fury 78-77
9. Fury much more tentative with cut to nose/face. Fury clinches, face looks awful while Usyk's cut was cleaned up well. Fury looks more serious now, no more clowning. Usyk pressuring. Two lefts from Usyk. Fury fighting back with rights and uppercuts to body in last minute. Another right from Fury, round is about even now. Huge right from Usyk has Fury stumbling all over, he should just go down, he stumbles into the corner and they call a knockdown. The bell rings and Fury is a zombie. Usyk 10-8; 87-86
10. Fury looks better but wobbly, Usyk attacking. Fury can hardly punch though. Usyk attacks but Fury covers up well. He looks better now. Combo from Usyk. Now Usyk is clowning a bit. Usyk whiffs on a huge left, and a right. Fury cornered again but escapes. Fury survives the round, and I'm not sure Usyk won it. 10-10; Usyk 97-96
11. Great fight. Usyk charges in at the start. Fury using his jab again well. Fury backs off from Usyk's chasing shots. Usyk goes to body and chin. Good right overhand/cross from Usyk. Good uppercut from Fury to body. Fury backed to ropes and Usyk connects. Huge overhand left probably tilts the close round to Usyk 10-9; 107-105
12. Fury behind on my card but with close rounds, he could be up 2 rounds. Suggests a split decision for Usyk is most likely. Usyk closes in and scores, Fury responds. Fury clinches when Usyk charges. Combo from Fury but he needs more, needs to win this round and may need  a knockdown or knockout. Usyk looks fresher, and more aggressive, connects with a hook. Fury hits with right hand with 1 minute left. Fury great straight right hand. Exchanges at the end between both fighters. Very even round. 10-10; Usyk 117-115

Ok, with five 10-10 rounds my scores are: Usyk 117-110, Usyk (115-112 or 114-113), Fury 115-112. Split decision for Usyk. Let's see what the judges say.

Judges cards: 115-112 Usyk; Fury; 114-113 Usyk; 114-113 Usyk

Just as my "cards" predicted, a split decision win for Oleksandr Usyk, but none of the cards was a wide Usyk decision.

Oleksandr Usyk is the SportsRatings heavyweight champion, and everyone else's champion too for a change! I guess we're going to have the rematch in October.

 

Scoring from the undercard:

#6 Frank Sanchez vs. #17 Agit Kabayel round-by-round scoring (12 round scheduled)

1. Quick start to the action, fighters are standing toe to toe and sparring heavily. Kabayel going to the body like he did against Makhmudov. Sanchez backing up, but he connects with a solid right. Great left jab/uppercut follows, Kabayel is clinching and hooking his arms over Sanchez. Ref warns both about clinch activity. Uppercut misses for Sanchez. Kabayel taking Sanchez's shots well, has him on the ropes now. Lots of action, both fighters did well but Sanchez had the bigger shots. 10-9 Sanchez
2. Kabayel moving forward, being more aggressive than I thought he'd be. Another clinch and lots of hand-fighting in the clinch. Kabayel's jabs are getting in, and he connects with a great uppercut. Sanchez playing the rope-a-dope n the ropes? A few good shots back Kabayel off for a bit with a minute left. Good left by Kabayel, Sanchez responds. Right hand by Kabayel! Great action so far. Sanchez let the round go by staying on the ropes. 10-9 Kabayel; 19-19
3. Kabayel continuing the pressure; more clinch fighting. Not much real connecting going on this round, movement and clinching, both maybe resting after first 2 rounds. Good 1-2 by Kabayel. Did he do enough to win the round? Probably since Sanchez didn't do much either. Kabayel 10-9; 29-28
4. Kabayel once again backs Sanchez to the ropes. Exchanges between the two. Good uppercut by Sanchez, Kabayel takes it well, he responds with solid jabs and bodyshots. Sanchez looks uncertain, like his right hand is hurt? Sanchez trapped in the corner, takes some shots but blocks most. Still, he doesn't look like himself exactly. Kabayel is relentless in stalking him down, good right hand hook to the head. Another good round for Kabayel 10-9; 39-37
5. Sanchez's movement is questionable and he has a bandage on his knee, takes a few shots from Kabayel, teeing off on him now against the ropes. So far Sanchez has taken it well but isn't looking confident. Sanchez might have to brawl with Kabayel to open anything up, he's not dealing with the pressure well. His leg is clearly bothering him. Kabayel 10-9; 49-46
6. Sanchez backs right up to start the round. Good left by Kabayel. Kabayel is outboxing him even at this point, it's not just a matter of low output from Sanchez. Good counter, but most of his punches aren't going anywhere. Strong right but Kabayel. The difference in "ring generalship" is stark, even if the blows were even. 10-9 Kabayel; 59-55
7. Jabs from Kabayel, he's throwing 5 punches for every 1 or 2 counters from Sanchez. Right hand from Kabayel catches Sanchez sleeping. A few moments later Sanchez goes down from random body shot; moments later he is down again! Sanchez doesn't get up. Wow.

Agit Kabayel KO 7 Frank Sanchez

Impressive win for Kabayel, but the mystery is how bad Sanchez looked after the first or second round. He clearly wasn't himself. Was it his knee? Something else? Or just Kabayel's relentless body shots, which were what put him down.

In any case, #17 Kabayel will move up to #7, and Sanchez will drop to around #14. Oddly, Kabayel will land right behind Efe Ajagba, whose only loss is to Sanchez. Kabayel vs. Ajagba next?

Early action:

Already, Sergei Kovalev has lost a cruiserweight decision to undefeated Robin Sirwan Safar; and lightweight Mark Chamberlain impressively TKOed Joshua Wahab in the first round.

19-year-old HW prospect Moses Itauma is currently taking on Ilja Mezencev. Itauma is unranked so far as he hasn't faced any rated competition, but at 6-6 and hard-hitting he looks to be a contender soon. Mezencev survived the first round, barely, after a huge left. Update: he didn't survive the 2nd round. Big punch from Itauma on top of the head scored the 2nd round TKO.