And here comes Tyson Fury. He’s the clear crowd favorite, looking relaxed and ready as he plays to the masses. Bonnie Tyler urgent 1984 anthem Holding Out For A Hero plays at ear-splitting volume, a bit of English pride.
Oleksandr Usyk has made his entrance. He walks quickly and methodically to the ring like a tiger as his personal hymn (Гімн Олександра Усика by Браття) plays on the arena sound system.
Ring announcer Michael Buffer has emerged from the tunnel. He’s just called for a performance of Saudi Arabia’s national anthem, a brief instrumental rendition that’s played through quickly. Now the (great) Atlanta rapper JID is performing in an open-air cube that descended from the rafters directly above the ring.
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It’s a quarter past midnight in Riyadh as the crowd awaits the entrances of Fury and Usyk. Here’s a dispatch from Donald McRae, our man at ringside:
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I must be a sucker for punishment as I have been in the arena since 5pm, Riyadh time. The first six bouts on a long old 10-fight card were watched mostly in silence with the Kingdom Arena slowly filling to around a third of its capacity by 10pm. It’s apparently sold out tonight, with around 22,000 people expected. On the swanky side of ringside the seat names suggest that Anthony Joshua will be watching Fury v Usyk next to Cristiano Ronaldo. AJ’s name is printed in full while his pal for the night is, of course, on CR7 brand on the piece of paper pinned to a chair.
Sergey Kovalev, who had been out of the ring for two years, should really slip away into permanent retirement. Not many were really watching but he took a methodical beating before being knocked down by Sweden’s Robin Sirwan Safar just seconds before the final bell. There were then two quick first round stoppage wins for Mark Chamberlain, the lightweight, and Moses Itauma, the promising 19-year-old British heavyweight.
The fight of the night so far, by some distance, was the all-British IBF world title fight between the super-featherweights, Anthony Cacace from Belfast and Joe Cordina from Cardiff. Cordina, the champion, was dropped heavily in round three. He looked in serious trouble but, with immense grit, fought back. Cacace, however, was relentless. Cordina, having apparently been through a really draining weight cut this week, wilted under a fierce barrage of punches in round eight and the referee rightly rescued him. Cacace, having just become a world champion, was understandably jubilant.
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When they left the ring the arena was two-thirds full and a little louder. Just after midnight local time, as the atmosphere builds gradually, I should start getting ready for work and writing about Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.
