OLEKSANDR THE GREAT REIGNS SUPREME IN SAUDI ONCE AGAIN

Unlike the build-up to the first fight, we saw a much more reserved Tyson Fury in the build-up to this one. He was a man of very few words, and you could tell that he was focused on gaining sweet revenge over his Ukrainian rival.

The fight started off how you’d expect. It was cagey, and both fighters were immersed in a battle to occupy the centre of the ring with both Fury and Usyk trying to target each other's bodies.

With Usyk winning that positioning battle early on, he was already looking to land that looping left hand which had Fury almost out on his feet in the first fight.

Meanwhile, this time around, Fury was sticking to the basics and started to get success with the simple 1-2 upstairs, which seemingly offset Usyk on a number of occasions throughout the fight.

As the rounds went on, they were close, but it was almost like a constant momentum swing in each round with neither properly asserting their dominance on the fight.

Both were continuing to chip away at the body, and in round seven, Fury showed the first signs of fatigue with Usyk now gradually having more success to Fury’s head after investing in the body earlier on in the fight.

Usyk wasn’t necessarily throwing lots, but as he’s renowned for, he was using his feet to make Fury work harder than what he wanted to.

After a couple of fairly quiet rounds for Fury, he turned his attention to the body once again in round nine and seemed like he was starting to shift the momentum slightly until Usyk finished the round the stronger.

Fury was desperately trying to get that uppercut away, and at times he was having success, but unlike the first fight, Usyk had a plan to deal with it, and he seemingly did that well.

Going into the championship rounds, it was all to play for.

Unsurprisingly, it was the lighter man in Usyk who once again showed off his incredible engine. He dominated round 11, and Fury was now visibly fatigued with him winging in punches and, to his credit, finding a way through with a few of them.

The general consensus online going into the last was that Usyk was up and Fury needed a knockdown at least, but it was the Ukrainian who got on the front foot as soon as the bell went for the 12th.

Fury held his own in the final round, though, and you could have made a case for him winning the round; however, the judges felt that he hadn’t done enough with all three scoring it 116-112 in favour of Oleksandr Usyk.

Another special performance from a special fighter.

This was a much-improved version of Tyson Fury from the first fight and ultimately, he showed that he can hang with one of, if not the greatest fighter of this generation, and there’s absolutely no shame in that whatsoever.

So, what next for the pair? Well, for Usyk, a rematch with IBF world champ Daniel Dubois for the undisputed championship could be on the cards, but that will depend on whether he gets past the test of Joseph Parker.

For Fury, there’s only one name on everyone’s lips, and it’s the same name that’s been on everyone’s lips for an eternity… Anthony Joshua.

Prior to the main event, we witnessed an undercard that had it all from slugfests to standout performances.

We’ll start on a bit of a negative with the main talking point of the night, aside from the main event, coming in the all-British heavyweight banger between Johnny Fisher and Dave Allen.

A fight that was very much seen as a good test for Fisher but one that he should pass, it turned out to be all but that.

After a good opening four rounds for The Romford Bull, Allen showed his experience and dropped Fisher heavily in the fifth.

From then on, it was all very much one-way traffic. They were on each other’s chests, slugging away to each other’s heads and bodies, but despite Fisher showing his toughness, it was Allen that was seemingly getting the better of the exchanges and landing the more telling punches.

With 10 rounds in the bag, it looked as though Allen would be crowned the winner; however, it wasn’t to be, with Fisher edging out the Doncaster man by split decision.

Social media was immediately awash with dismayed fans questioning the decision, with Fisher’s father, Big John, even admitting to Allen that he thought he’d nicked the fight.

Controversy, but either way, it sets up a cracking rematch and hopefully a big day for both.

The biggest statement of the night came from the 19-year-old heavyweight sensation Moses Itauma.

Stepping up to fight the talented Aussie Demsey McKean, whose only career loss came at the hands of Filip Hrgovic, Itauma needed just two minutes to pick up the ninth stoppage of his 11-fight professional career.

For someone who is unlikely to reach their peak for another 10 years, this was one heck of a statement by a young man with the world at his feet.

Who next? He’s been ordered to fight David Adeleye for his English title, but whoever it may be, good luck to them because they’ll need it.

There were also wins on the undercard for Serhii Bohachuk, who stopped late replacement Ishmael Davis, Lee McGregor, who proved just too good for Isaac Lowe, and Peter McGrail, who edged out Rhys Edwards in an absolute cracker.