Conspiracies, cuts and collapses: The treacherous road to Fury vs Usyk

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The reason for the chaos and theories started with a deep wound above Tyson Fury's eye. This injury disrupted his scheduled title bout against Oleksandr Usyk, with only two weeks’ notice. Many have suggested that the wound was purposely caused by Fury himself.

Honestly, the ideas presented were completely ridiculous. Fury appeared to be in top physical form, just like he was before he got accidentally hit by an elbow during a training session in February. He was determined to conclude a long-standing boxing conflict, but unfortunately, he was hindered by terrible luck.

It was the most recent obstacle on an already unstable journey, and the only concern at this point is that there could potentially be one final unexpected change in direction.

Fury and Usyk, who have never suffered a loss in their professional career, are scheduled to face each other on Saturday. However, it's worth noting that boxing matches of this significance have experienced controversial rulings before, resulting in ambiguity surrounding match outcomes. Fury and Usyk, aged 35 and 37 respectively, have also agreed to have a follow-up bout no matter the outcome from their match in Riyadh. Thus, it is hoped that neither a dull tie nor questionable scorecard takes place, compromising the integrity of the fight's results.

Assuming there are no issues, Saturday's big event could crown boxing's first undisputed heavyweight champion in 24 years. Lennox Lewis was the last to hold this distinction in 2000, after defeating Evander Holyfield the previous year. It's been a long time coming, but why has it taken almost 25 years to reach this momentous occasion?

The political situation in boxing has made it difficult for fans to identify a definite king in the sport's glamour division. Greedy promoters and managers are the ones to blame for this. There was a time when Lewis held the undisputed championship title, but since then, Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, Roy Jones Jr, Shannon Briggs, Deontay Wilder, Anthony Joshua, and Usyk have all held world titles. Some of these boxers even held multiple belts simultaneously or in multiple reigns. However, no one has been able to carry all the major belts simultaneously since Lewis's reign.

Not too long ago, people could hardly believe that there would be an epic showdown between two British boxers to determine the undisputed champion. It was in February 2020 when Anthony Joshua won back his unified titles from Andy Ruiz Jr, just two months before Tyson Fury defeated Deontay Wilder to claim the WBC belt. It's worth noting that Fury and Wilder had a controversial draw in their previous fight. During the summer of 2020, when Covid was at its peak, discussions started for what would be the most monumental fight in British boxing history and one of the most significant in the sport's entire history.

However, negotiations came to a halt, and the opportunity slipped away. “AJ” proceeded to defeat Kubrat Pulev in December of the same year, but he surrendered his unified championship for the second time in 2021, after being outperformed by Usyk. Meanwhile, Fury took a break from competitions until October 2021, which was a month following Joshua's loss to Usyk. Fury then engaged in a brutal showdown with Wilder, resulting in a victory.

From that time onwards, both Usyk and Fury have managed to defend their respective titles twice. The Ukrainian and Joshua had a closer bout in August of 2022, but Usyk emerged victorious after a gruelling 12 rounds. He continued his winning streak in August of 2023 by defeating Daniel Dubois, even after being knocked down by a contested low blow. Fury, on the other hand, defeated Dillian Whyte in April 2022 and his friend Derek Chisora in a rather insignificant match eight months later, bringing his tally of victories over Chisora to three. However, Fury had a close call when he fought against Francis Ngannou in a non-title bout last October.

Fury was knocked down to the floor by a former UFC champion who was new to boxing. However, Fury was able to stay in the match until the very end and received a lucky victory decision. Afterwards, in the Riyadh arena, the Gypsy King stood awkwardly in front of Usyk, who had witnessed the fight from the side of the ring with a surprised and worried look on his face. Fury was able to avoid a major upset, but Usyk was well aware of how close they both came to losing their important fight and their legacies.

However, this situation happened after a previous failure. The decision to make Fury-Usyk official was made in September, a whole month before Fury-Ngannou was even considered. However, several months before this, the match was almost confirmed. During the spring, Usyk agreed to Fury's unfair request of a 70-30 split of the purse, but discussions fell through due to disputes over the rematch purse division.

The people who represent Fury pointed fingers at Usyk's team, alleging that they backed out of talks and were responsible for the situation. On the other hand, the individuals on Usyk's side acknowledged that they withdrew from negotiations, but stated that Fury's unrealistic requests were the reason behind it.

Towards the end of the year, the influence of Saudi Arabia grew and they were able to finalize the Fury-Usyk fight in September. This agreement was reached after Usyk, a left-hander, defeated Dubois and when Fury signed to fight Ngannou. Critical support came from Turki Al-Sheikh, a key advisor within the Gulf state, and the financial backing of Saudi Arabia was also important in making the deal happen.

After five months, Fury got a cut very near to the fight's original date, and Al-Sheikh took quick action. He announced that if either boxer withdrew before the new May date, they would have to pay a penalty of $10m. Also, Joshua was willing to take Fury's place if he withdrew, but he would only fight Fury, and Usyk could choose his opponent if Fury withdrew once again. Usyk had missed the birth of his daughter while training overseas.

However, at this moment in time, we are undoubtedly in too close of a proximity for such a sudden change or unexpected turn of events.

Al-Sheikh has already started thinking about what Joshua will do next. He wants Joshua to fight at Wembley in September against Wilder, Dubois, Zhilei Zhang or Filip Hrgovic. Any of those opponents would be a good challenge for Joshua, and he has had plenty of challenges throughout his career. Unfortunately, Joshua has not always received the recognition he deserves for his achievements. Fury has faced criticism for his past opponents, while Usyk has gained praise for his impressive run in the cruiserweight division and bold move to heavyweight. These accolades are well-deserved.

However, we have moved past that phase. Fury and Usyk both acknowledge the quality of their opponent in Saturday's match and the importance of the fight. Assuming everything goes as expected in Riyadh, there will be no debate about who deserves the title of heavyweight champion.

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