CHRISTMAS comes early for fight fans on Saturday with the world heavyweight title return between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury replayed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Back in May, Ukrainian Usyk became the first man to defeat Fury in the ring and the first heavyweight to unify the division in 25 years with his split decision victory.

Seven months on we are going to find out if either man has been able to make the necessary changes to claim a conclusive outcome inside the same ring.

RING OF FIRE

It was the judge’s interpretation of three of the opening four rounds which ultimately decided the outcome of the first fight.

The three ringside officials disagreed on rounds 2, 3, 4 and 11, which led to three different final scores of 114-113, 113-114 and 115-112, two in favour of Usyk.

That was largely due to the fact the Ukrainian took the fight to Fury from the opening bell.

A pressure fighter with a difference, the 22-0 former cruiserweight king and pound-for-pound leader makes his opponents fight at an unsustainable pace before going through the gears.

After seven rounds, Usyk was down on all three judge’s cards, having won just two rounds on two cards and three on the other past the midway point.

But that’s when the Ukrainian does his best work, in deep waters, and he moved into fifth gear against Fury from Round 8; broke the Brits nose and reversed all momentum.

Fury (34-1-1) was saved by the bell at the end of Round 9, seemingly out on his feet from a 20-punch barrage, and needed the 10^th to get his legs back under himself.

However, it’s testament to Fury’s tenacity that he was able to sway one judge back in his favour in 11 and win all three judges over with his output in 12.

THE REMATCH

Fury, 36, can take confidence from his performance in the opening half of the first fight, especially Rounds 4–6 when he mixed hooks and uppercuts and picked off Usyk with his back against the ropes.

But the manner in which he slowed down after getting his nose broken has to be of concern. He was literally and figuratively holding on from that point onwards.

Similarly, Usyk, 37, connecting clean in 8 and 9 got him out of jail on the scorecards. The knockdown, as legit as it was, ultimately won him the fight.

He can’t afford to risk Fury’s gas tank running dry again, especially as the ‘Gypsy King’ is likely in far greater shape this time around.

Back in May, in this column, I went against Usyk for the first time in his career, predicting a points victory for Fury. In the aftermath I vowed never to do it again.

But now the rematch is upon us, whilst I concede the biggest moment of the first fight absolutely belonged to the Ukrainian, I still believe Fury won the majority of the rounds.

Fury says he’s coming for a knockout, and he’s never failed to deliver on that fight week promise in the past. But Usyk is too smart and too resilient to stay hurt for long.

Sequels rarely live up to the original, but I am expecting this fight to be something very special as both great champions gamble with their fighting legacies.

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