Tyson Fury v Oleksandr Usyk: undisputed heavyweight championship – live

Hello and welcome to Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena for tonight’s summit meeting between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk. There are big fights. There are blockbusters. And there are events like this one which promise to define an era. For the first time since the dawn of the millennium, after a quarter-century of fracture and dispute, boxing will have an undisputed heavyweight champion.

Of the many well-documented reasons for boxing’s protracted retreat toward the periphery of the mainstream, the lack of clearly identifiable champions rates high on a competitive list. At one time the heavyweight championship of the world was the most prestigious title in sports, yet the lack of central authority has left us with four major sanctioning bodies that have served to create confusion among casual observers while devaluing the currency of a title.

Fury has owned the WBC’s version of the championship since his stunning knockout of Deontay Wilder in the middle installment of their epic trilogy, while Usyk owns the WBA, IBF and WBO straps, having won them from Anthony Joshua and defended them in a rematch. Fury’s claim to the throne is arguably purer as the lineal champion from his 2015 win over Wladimir Klitschko – the man who beat the man who beat the man – the successor of a pedigree traceable all the way back to John L Sullivan (but for the retirements of Lewis, Rocky Marciano and Gene Tunney).

The sport’s flagship division has long served as a bellwether for the popularity of fighting at large. As the heavyweights go, they say, so does boxing. For all the acclaim that awaits tonight’s winner, one could argue that a sport stands to gain even more.