While the NBA and NHL Playoffs are rolling along and grabbing everyone’s attention, some might forget that the undisputed world heavyweight title will be on the line on Saturday night. It will be Tyson Fury stepping into the ring to face Oleksandr Usyk at Kingdome Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In fact, there are three title fights in total on Saturday’s card with the main even being Fury putting his WBC and Lineal heavyweight belts on the line while Usyk looks to add to his collection of WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring heavyweight titles.
Fury is currently riding a seven-fight winning streak and is the slight -120 favorite to hand Usyk his first career defeat. The take-back on Usyk is +105, while the odds of this fight going a full 12 rounds is -190. The main event is expected to begin around 6 p.m. ET.
Fury will be making his first appearance since facing former UFC champion Francisc Ngannou in this same building last October. Ngannou, who made his pro boxing debut in this 10-round matchup, managed to knockdown Fury in the third round before Fury rebounded to claim a split decision win. Fury’s ability to bounce back after hitting the canvas makes him an attractive bet of +800 of winning Saturday’s fight after getting knocked down.
Overall, Fury has a 34-0-1 record, with the lone blemish coming six years ago, when his bid to take the WBC heavyweight belt from Deontay Wilder ended in a split draw. Three of Fury’s last seven victories have come inside seven rounds, and is pegged as a +700 bet to earn the win some time between the fifth and eighth rounds.
Usyk is undefeated in 21 career pro fights and looks to unify the heavyweight title after claiming the WBA (Regular) title in controversial fashion last time out. The 37-year-old Ukrainian was dropped in the fifth round of his battle with Daniel Dubois by what was ruled a low blow, but many observers viewed it as a legitimate punch that should have ended the fight. Usyk would go on to knockout Dubois in the ninth round. Long battles are nothing new to Usyk, who has seen all seven of his career wins by decision come in his past 12 fights, and is a +225 bet to get the decision on Saturday night.
Fighters: Fury (34-0-1) vs Usyk (21-0)
Location: Kingdome Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Day/Time: Saturday, May 18th, 2024, 6 p.m. ET
Prediction: This is going to be a marathon match on Saturday night and I think it goes the distance. Both can absorb a lot of punishment and neither will back down. This will go down to the judges and I’ll take the safe bet and say this goes the distance and that Fury will win by decision.
