Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk LIVE: Ring walk time, undercard results and round-by-round updates as the ‘Gypsy King looks to become unified champion

In the build-up to tonight’s fight, Charlotte was invited into Usyk’s training camp ahead of the clash of his life.

This is an unmissable piece. Make sure you don’t, below.

Usyk’s Ukrainian heritage is central to his pride and performance in the ring – and that has only increased ten-fold since Russia’s invasion of his country in February 2022.

In another hat-tip to his heritage, the heavyweight turned up at yesterday’s weigh-in wearing a traditional Ukrainian vyshyvanka – a mere 24 hours after National Vyshyvanka Day, might I add – decorated with a pictured of war hero Oleksandr Matsievskyi. He was a soldier executed by Russian forces during the Battle of Bakhmut in December 2022.

To say that the Gypsy King is a divisive character is an understatement – Fury has slalomed through being loved and loathed, between being the object of sympathy or of derision, and being lionised or villainised, for almost all of his decorated career.

You can read more on the tumult and the heady highs and bitter lows in Fury’s story, below.

• October – ‘Battle of the Baddest’

Fury versus Ngannou. Seasoned veteran versus debutant. A walkover? Not quite. Ngannou nearly gave an underprepared Fury the scare of his life, dropping him to the canvas, and almost sneaking victory. The MMA star acquitted himself well – but it was the Gypsy King who took the first belt of Riyadh Season.

• December – ‘Day of Reckoning’

The first of the proposed Fury-Usyk dates, but when that was promptly delayed, it was Anthony Joshua’s time to get top billing – but not against co-headliner Deontay Wilder, as expected or desired. Instead, he made light work of Otto Wallin, and the Bronze Bomber was pulverised by Joseph Parker.

A quick turnaround for Joshua, this time going toe-to-toe with Ngannou. The Briton stopped the Cameroonian in stunning fashion, laying important groundwork for a long-awaiting meeting with Fury… if he can swipe all of Usyk’s belt, that is.

… That takes us all the way up to this evening – and there’s a mouthwatering Queensberry versus Matchroom card still to come.

… now have a listen to Evander’s!

Holyfield is next up ranking the greatest heavyweights of all-time, exclusively for Mail Sport.

Where does the time go? We’re now nearly ten hours off the estimated ringwalk time, so why not flick through a detailed run-through of our two would-be undisputed heavyweight champions?

No detail spared here – it’s Mail Sport’s Tale of the Tape, below.

If there’s one man who knows how the fighters will be feeling as they prepare for an undisputed heavyweight fight, it’s Evander Holyfield.

Charlotte Daly sat down with the boxing icon earlier this week, and you can watch – and read – her interview with the Real Deal below.

The contest is viewed by many as too close to call, but who better than Mail Sport’s Jeff Powell to read the tea leaves and try and attempt just that?

You can read the ultimate preview piece from Powell – ringside 25 years ago at the last undisputed clash – below.

Flashback to 2019, when both were ringside for Artur Beterbiev’s knockout victory over Oleksandr Gvozdyk.

Usyk was still fighting cruiserweight when the friendly exchange took place – and five years later, prepares for the once-in-a-lifetime face-off.

Things are unlikely to be so friendly in Riyadh.

First staring one another down after Fury’s defeat of Chisora in 2022, the journey to Riyadh has been a long and winding one – with many boxing fans wondering at numerous points if a meeting would EVER take place between the two heavyweights.

First up was the scrapped Wembley fight, floated for March 2023, but set aside following a disagreement over the rematch clause in the fight’s terms.

After a Saudi intervention, a December date was then agreed – only for Fury’s tussle with Ngannou in October to fling a spanner in the works. Cue a rearrangement, and announcement for February 2024.

Or so we thought, until Fury picked up a nasty cut sparring in preparation. Breaks officially pumped.

So May 18 it is – or should be. In the words of Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk – ‘my confidence (in the fight happening) will grow higher when I hear the bell for the first round.’

One man that has a fair bit more insight than others is Derek Chisora, who has faced off with both Usyk and Fury.

But where does his allegiance lie this evening?

You can find out in his interview with Mail Sport’s Charlotte Daly, below.

Over the past year, boxing fans have been treated to some of the greatest spectacles in the sport – in record time. Gone are the drawn-out squabbles between fighters and promoters, the endless back-and-forths: Saudi are making fights happen.

The Kingdom’s success at bringing the biggest contests to their shores sits Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi’s General Authority for Entertainment and an avid boxing fan. Armed with eye-watering financial rewards and unprecedented set-ups for big fights, Saudi’s offers have just about every top fighter scampering to their shores – much to the delight of the sport’s aficionados.

But who is the high-ranking government minister?

For more information, why not prime yourself with Mail Sport’s profile on Alalshikh ahead of tonight’s clash – you’ll be hearing his name a lot…

We’ve got a cornucopia of heavyweight rankings – and this one, by Mail Sport’s emminent boxing journalist Jeff Powell, is not to be missed.

When the dust settles, I wonder where he ranks tonight’s clash?

Until then, you can weigh up his reasoning for the top 11, below.

Game recognises game – do you agree with the Lion’s picks?

He sat down with Charlotte Daly in Riyadh to pass judgement, below.

One of his lowest career weights on Saturday night, Fury’s body transformation ahead of facing off with Usyk has been nothing short of remarkable – particularly in light of the place he was coming from.

You can find out more about the brutal work the Gypsy King has been putting in at the gym – and at the breakfast table – below.

Amir Khan! Ricky Hatton! Derek Chisora!

You may have decided who you’re backing tonight, but can a generous handful of boxing greats change your mind?

Why not check them out and see, below.

Both Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield are in Saudi Arabia to watch and see who will be crowned the next undisputed heavyweight champion, 25 years on from their two-bout tussle for supremacy in 1999.

But could this fight supply even half as much drama as all those years ago?

Mail Sport revisited the showdown in detail, which you can peruse at your leisure, below.

… and has been speaking to the great and the good of the boxing world in the build-up to tonight’s showpiece event.

Usyk’s proud compatriot Wladimir Klitschko has his say on the geopolitical significance on the fight, below.

Tyson being Tyson? Or a marked man with just over 24 hours to go?

Fans on social media ran their gimlet eyes over the weigh-in fracas and came out firmly on Team Usyk. A man of few words, composure is the Ukrainian’s modus operandi, and it didn’t take much for him to preserve ice cube status alongside the foul-mouthed Fury.

I don’t buy total psychological collapse, of course. But it’s always thrilling to see fire meet ice.

A slimmed down Tyson Fury proved that he hasn’t disappeared entirely, checking in at 262lbs.

But that’s still 39lbs more than his Ukrainian opponent, who hit his career-heaviest weight at 223lbs.

That, however, wasn’t what most people thought after Michael Buffer incorrectly called him at 233lbs – to many a raised eyebrow of faint approval – only for the weight to be corrected in viral footage…

You can see for yourself below.

After a cool, composed press conference the day before, things looked suspiciously poised for any fight build-up featuring one Tyson Fury. That is, until he reached his final face-off with Usyk.

The last time the pair attempted to lock eyes and stare one-another down, Fury had stared into the distance, prompting some to suggest he was rattled. Not so on Friday night, when the Gypsy King was more than happy to get up close and personal.

You can watch the tension boil over below, and read the full details of what exactly Fury is looking to do to the ‘little f*****’ tonight in our weigh-in report.

Saudi Arabia has played host to a number of boxing’s big nights in the past eight months since the inaugural Riyadh Season face-off between Fury and Francis Ngannou, but tonight’s showing simply blows the rest out of the water.

But what time do things get going, and who else could experience the fight of a lifetime? And if you wanted to watch the fight alongside tuning into our live coverage, where can you do it?

For this info and more, all will be revealed via the link below.

Hello and welcome to Mail Sport’s live coverage of all the build-up ahead of the big one: Tyson Fury’s showdown with Oleksandr Usyk to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.

We’re some way off the history-making fight – ring walks are planned for about 11 hours from now, at 11pm BST, but that could well turn out to be pie-in-the-sky timing – but there’s a lot to catch up on between then and now.