Ukrainian warrior Oleksandr Usyk outpointed Fury to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the world since Lennox Lewis a quarter of a century ago. Despite losing the recent ever biggest bout Fury collected more than Usyk following the pre-bout deal. Fury bagged 80 Million Pound while the Ukrainian collected 30-50 Million.

Usyk is three stones lighter and seven inches shorter than Britain’s Gypsy King but this toughest of cookies proved that a good little ‘un can defeat a good big ‘un, contrary to boxing’s oldest adage.

Especially when the smaller man possesses a heart the size of Usyk’s.

A compelling, high-class contest was neck-and-neck until the end of the ninth round when Usyk landed a crushing left hook which turned Fury’s legs to custard and left him facing a standing count.

The judges gave it to Usyk on a split decision, yet it ought to have been unanimous.

It was a first defeat in 36 professional bouts for Fury – who started off showboating, then began to dominate but was finally battered into near submission by Usyk’s extraordinary counter-attack.

And so Fury surrenders his WBC belt to Usyk – although this was such a brilliant battle that a scheduled rematch later this year will hold extreme intrigue.

Riyadh might be the polar opposite to Las Vegas but the Saudi capital is now the undisputed fight capital of the world – and so a decent number of Brits had made it over for a dry weekend in the Middle East.

The pre-match build-up was much the same as it would have been anywhere – headbutting, argy-bargy, trash-talking and God-thanking.

On the women’s side, the world record holder, Tigist Assefa, has been named to her first Olympic Games for Ethiopia. Assefa set the running world on fire last September with a jaw-dropping world record at the 2023 Berlin Marathon–two hours, 11 minutes and 53 seconds. 

Tigist has had a well-polished marathon career so far, winning two of her four races and finishing on the podium in three. Most recently, she finished second to Kenya’sPeres Jepchirchir (the defending Olympic champion) at the 2024 London Marathon, with a time of 2:16:23. This was Assefa’s first loss at an Abbott World Marathon Major.

All eyes will be on the 27-year-old as she tackles the daunting Paris course, which features more than 400 metres of elevation gain. This will be Assefa’s toughest challenge to date.

Joining Assefa on the Ethiopian team are two experienced marathoners: 2023 world championAmane Beriso and 2022 world champion Gotytom Gebreslase. Beriso has finished in the top three of her last six marathons and has thrived in warmer race conditions, taking wins in Budapest, Mexico City and Valencia. Gebreslase has been on the podium in the marathon at the last two world championships.

Like the men, the Ethiopian women’s team looks to end the streak of their East African rival, Kenya. Ethiopia has not won gold in the women’s marathon since Tiki Gelena at the London 2012 Olympics.

Yayesh Gate Tesfaw smashed the women’s 1500m T11 world record, with fellow Ethiopian Tigist Gezahagn Menigstu taking the T13 title on day two of the Kobe 2024 Para Athletics World Championships.

Yayesh staked her claim for gold at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games with a stunning victory, clocking 4:31.77 to break the previous world record by almost six seconds. China’s He Shanshan took silver in a new Asian record.

“I’m extremely happy with this gold and the world record. I’m going for more in Paris,” stated Yayesh afterwards.

Her team-mate Menigstu, who won Ethiopia’s first Paralympic gold at Tokyo 2020, maintained her dominance of the T13 1500m. The 24-year-old ran a new championship record of 4:18.90, five seconds clear of Morocco’s Ezzahra El

Wen Xiaoyan was another Paralympic champion from Tokyo to taste success again in Japan. The Chinese was the only woman to exceed five metres in the women’s long jump T37, setting a new championship record of 5.42m which was just three centimetres shy of her world record from last year.

Algeria had a one-two in the men’s F32 club throw. Ahmed Mehideb’s second-round throw would have been enough for gold but he bettered it three times with a best of 37.61m in the final round. Team-mate Walid Ferhah was second with 36.30m.