• Usyk emerged victorious via a split decision victory this month
• Turki Alalshikh confirms new date in social media post

The rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury will take place on 21 December, according to the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s general entertainment authority.

Usyk added Fury’s WBC belt to his WBA, WBO and IBF titles with a split-decision victory earlier this month in Riyadh, which made the Ukrainian the first undisputed world heavyweight champion for almost a quarter of a century.

Oleksandr Usyk’s scrap with Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia upheld the sport’s time-honoured tradition of sportswashing

I bought the fight. Obviously I bought the fight. It cost £24.95, money that was previously sitting in my “ethical” bank account until I decided to exchange it for the privilege of watching two men hit each other in the face live from Saudi Arabia. I tell you this so you can be assured that what follows comes from no place of sanctimony or moral purity or even intellectual coherence. Cuff me. Haul me in. What is the charge? Enjoying a fight? A succulent heavyweight boxing fight?

This is the evil genius of big-time boxing: it speaks to the darkest recesses of your soul, strips away the layers of equivocation and apologia, forces you to stare at the ugly thing until you can lie to yourself no longer. As Mike Tyson almost said, everyone has a principle until they want to watch someone get punched in the face. Terrible men throughout history have known this as fact, and perhaps the nicest thing we can say about the rulers of Saudi Arabia is that they are at least following a time-honoured tradition.

Ukrainian makes convincing case as greatest of all time after rocking the Gypsy King to unify the heavyweight division

In the final shake-up it was those 30 seconds at the end of the ninth round that determined Oleksandr Usyk would finish the night holding all four heavyweight belts, the first man to do so this century; and in the process complete an ascent to the most rarefied all-time champion air.

This was a wonderful heavyweight fight, 12 rounds of craft, heart and in Tyson Fury’s case, bloody-minded will to keep throwing punches from the edge of unconsciousness. If that half a minute was pivotal, a knockdown that ultimately shaped the judges’ cards, it also captured the wider patterns of a fight during which Usyk worked away at Fury like a man chopping down a tree with a forged steel hatchet.

People in Kyiv and Kharkiv celebrate win in world heavyweight unification fight as symbolic achievement for the country

From the capital, Kyiv, to the heavily attacked region of Kharkiv, news of Oleksandr Usyk’s win over Tyson Fury brought war-weary Ukrainians a rare and very welcome moment of victory and celebration.

Usyk, who became the first undisputed world heavyweight champion this century after his victory in Riyadh in the early hours of Sunday, said his triumph did not belong to him alone.

The Ukrainian boxer, as he often does, showed his human side after beating Tyson Fury in their epic Riyadh showdown

At four o’clock on Sunday morning, Oleksandr Usyk walked away from the ambulance, having had his jaw scanned and cleared of a possible fracture, after he had beaten Tyson Fury in a masterful display of audacity and courage to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. The cut and swollen skin above his right eye had been stitched shut and, as he strolled into a crammed room in the basement of the Kingdom Arena, he raised his left arm in greeting.

Applause broke out for this would be no ordinary press conference. Usyk wore a stone‑coloured T‑shirt, emblazoned with a boxing glove on the front. He carried a Ukrainian flag and Eeyore, his eldest daughter’s favourite cuddly toy, under his right arm.

Oleksandr Usyk beat Tyson Fury by split decision to win the first undisputed heavyweight championship in 25 years

• Ukrainian sheds tears after split-decision win over Tyson Fury
• ‘I thought I did enough but I’m not a judge’, says Fury

Oleksandr Usyk, the new undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, broke down in tears but shrugged off concerns that he might have suffered a fractured jaw while defeating Tyson Fury in a riveting battle in Riyadh. After he was taken to a local hospital for a routine MRI scan which cleared him, Usyk returned to the Kingdom Arena where he had beaten Fury on a split decision.

Talking freely, without any apparent pain, Usyk confirmed that he had needed just four stitches to close a small cut above his eye. Immediately after the fight, while still in the ring, Usyk had said, “Thank you so much to my team. It’s a big opportunity for my family, for me, for my country. It’s a great day.”

• Usyk wins split decision 115-112, 113-114, 114-113
• Fury knocked down in critical ninth round in Riyadh

Oleksandr Usyk is the first undisputed world heavyweight champion this century after he defeated Tyson Fury, in a compelling fight, on a split decision in the early hours of Sunday morning. Usyk added Fury’s WBC title to the IBF, WBA and WBO belts he already owned when he was deservedly given the verdict 115-112 by the first judge and 114-113 by the third official. The middle scorecard was called 114-113 in favour of Fury – but he had been almost knocked out in the ninth round when he staggered across the ring drunkenly. He was given a standing count of eight and saved by the bell.

An absorbing and highly technical, if brutal, contest had shifted in momentum when Usyk had a dominant round in the eighth. A right hook and left cross nailed Fury. And then, suddenly surging with new conviction, Usyk landed a shuddering left which rocked Fury. Blood began to pour from Fury’s nose and he was marked up around the left eye.

Experienced trainer breaks down the tactics that could decide battle to be crowned undisputed heavyweight world champion

This is likely to be a very close fight. You’ve got two unbeaten fighters, one in Oleksandr Usyk who has never been knocked down as a professional and the other, in Tyson Fury, who was asleep on the floor against Deontay Wilder and still got up. Fury has a two‑stone weight advantage, as well as a big height and reach edge. So he will use his jab to keep the fight at distance. Usyk has to get inside, hit him to the body and head and move off – a bit like guerilla warfare. If he tries to stand off and box Fury he’s going to be at a disadvantage.

The two fighters have experienced epic highs and crushing lows in the lead-up to Saturday’s undisputed decider

His eye-catching size and improbable name earned Tyson Fury attention but his amateur career was marked by frustration. Fury fought only 35 times (31-4) and his dream of going to the 2008 Olympics was shattered when David Price – responsible for one of those four defeats – was selected as Team GB’s super-heavyweight for Beijing. After a failed attempt to qualify for the Ireland team, a disillusioned Fury almost quit the sport at the age of 19. “My age of innocence was smashed,” he said. “For a while I didn’t go near the gym because I was so upset.”

Boxer has raised funds for Ukraine but faced criticism in the past for his apparent Moscow-leaning sympathies

On the streets of Kyiv this week, the name of the Ukrainian heavyweight boxer Oleksandr Usyk prompted a few eye-rolls, alongside expressions of admiration for his sporting prowess.

The former cruiserweight, who fights the Briton Tyson Fury for the undisputed heavyweight championship in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night, has been an active fundraiser for the Ukrainian military and humanitarian causes since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion. His success in the ring is a matter of considerable national pride.