Eddie Hearn weighs in

Matchroom Boxing chief and Anthony Joshua promoter Eddie Hearn has given his thoughts on Tyson Fury’s stunning survival of the ninth round against Oleksandr Usyk.

He told DAZN: “How he survived the ninth [round]?

“I thought he was very lucky that the referee didn’t jump in.

He showed unbelievable heart to stay on his feet and unbelievable composure coming out for the tenth and eleventh rounds.

“He was losing those rounds, but he was recovering.”

Usyk to be stripped of title

Oleksandr Usyk faces only being able to call himself undisputed champion for a matter of weeks.

Usyk prevailed in what was been dubbed “the fight of the century” after beating Fury via split-decision in Saudi Arabia.

Fury lost his WBC title, while Usyk added to his WBA, IBF and WBO belts.

And despite all the attention and build up to the first undisputed heavyweight bout in over 25 years, his status will only last a fraction of that time.

Boxing journalist Dan Rafael has reported that the winner of tonight’s bout will maintain the undisputed title for “less than two weeks”.

It’s said that both Fury and Usyk’s contracts dictate that they must vacate the the IBF title ahead of overdue mandatory challenger Filip Hrgovic’s bout with Daniel Dubois.

Lennox Lewis breaks silence

Lennox Lewis – the last man to hold all the heavyweight titles – took to Twitter to congratulate Oleksandr Usyk for following in his footsteps and becoming the undisputed ruler of the division.

He tweeted: “Welcome to the club! z@Usykaa.

“Tonight we witnessed a crackin’ fight and history made.

“I was happy to welcome either one of these incredible champions to the Undisputed HW club and tonight it was Oleksandr The Great.

“Looking forward to seeing them do it again. @usykaa has proved that it never too late to add to your legacy. Congrats!

“Fury will learn from this and he’ll be back! Losing is also part of the game, it’s how u respond to a loss that makes all the difference.”