Fury vs Usyk LIVE: Start time, undercard, fight updates and results

Who better to reflect on the last time the undisputed heavyweight titles were on the line than Steve Bunce? A man who was in the arena.

Here’s Steve on Lennox Lewis vs Evander Holyfield 2, 25 years on…

It was the latest bump on an already rocky road, and the only fear now is that there could be one last swerve.

Fury and Usyk, both unbeaten, are finally set to clash on Saturday, barring any late drama. But even then, judging in fights of this magnitude has robbed the sport of clear winners before. Fury, 35, and Usyk, 37, are contracted for a rematch regardless of what happens in Riyadh, so here’s hoping there is no deflating draw, no controversial scorecard, no asterisk on any achievement.

The biggest moment of drama at fight week came on Monday, when Fury’s father John headbutted one of Usyk’s teammates…

The incident left John with a bloody forehead, while Usyk’s teammate appeared unfazed.

Here’s what John had to say for himself…

Truthfully, until then, fight week had offered plenty of neon, but what about the buzz?

Even employees within BLVD City, the area hosting the pre-fight events on the outskirts of town, had to ask what was going on as they pointed to the press-conference stage. “Is this boxing or UFC?” one said. The UFC is visiting Riyadh, yes, but not for another month.

“I don’t know about the boxing, but I do like football,” one taxi driver told The Independent. And so the conversation turned to Al Nassr FC, Cristiano Ronaldo, and the like. Another seemed vaguely aware of the fight, saying with a hint of hesitance and an ever-raising eyebrow: “The British guy… and the Ukrainian guy? Boxing is not really in our culture.”

A great job by Ollie Browning on our video team for his censoring work on this clip!

On the topic of weight, The Independent was on the ground at yesterday’s weigh-in, speaking to George Groves, Barry Jones, Richie Woodhall and Frazer Clarke about Fury and Usyk’s respective sizes.

Is Usyk really too small to beat Fury? Will that be the deciding factor between two boxers who – according to many – are evenly matched?

Here’s what Olympic medalist Clarke and the former world champions had to say:

However, ring announcer Michael Buffer misheard what the officials had said after Usyk took to the scales in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he will box Fury.

Usyk in fact weighed in at 223lb, narrowly surpassing his career-high of 221lb – at which he beat Anthony Joshua twice, in 2021 and 2022, and Daniel Dubois in 2023.

The revelation came hours after the weigh-in finished, as close-up footage emerged on social media.

Meanwhile, Fury was 262lb – 15.7lb lighter than the 277.7lb at which he barely beat Francis Ngannou in October. That was a career-heaviest for the Briton.

Reports suggest that Fury is contracted to earn around 70 per cent of a total purse thought to be worth around $150m (£116m), with a clause stating Fury must donate £1m of his earnings to Ukraine amid its ongoing war against Russia.

While the final figure will not be known until after the fight, Fury’s US promoter Bob Arum has claimed that his fighter will earn more than $100m (£78m) from the showdown.

“If you told Tyson Fury he’s set to make $100m, he’d really get p***ed off because he thinks, and I think he’s right, that he’s going to make a lot more,” said Arum. “I don’t know the number, but it’s a lot more than $100m.”

Woods, who anochors Champions League coverage for TNT as well as leading ITV’s Women’s World Cup broadcasting last year, posted to Instagram late on Friday to explain why she would not be in place for the Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk fight – including photographs of the gruesome injury above and below her eye, as well as on the side of her face and arm.

Betway have this fight as a pick’em!