Tyson Fury v Oleksandr Usyk: how to watch it live on TNT Sports Box Office (2024)

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Undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. There’s more than a hint of magic around the phrase. The names associated with it: Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Mike Tyson. It’s the pinnacle of boxing, the accolade prized above all, the achievement that inspires awe in fans. And a new champ is about to be crowned.

Tyson Fury, the “Gypsy King”, the motormouth, mercurial Mancunian, holds the WBC heavyweight world title. Oleksandr Usyk, the Ukrainian former cruiserweight who made his name with two epic fights against Anthony Joshua, is in possession of the WBO, WBA and IBF belts. The winner of their bout this Saturday will be the first boxer since Lennox Lewis in 2000 to claim the honour of being the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.

You can see this mouth-watering fight live on TNT Sports Box Office with Virgin Media on Saturday 18 May. Here’s what you need to know.

What’s the background to this fight?

It had long been assumed, in the UK at least, that there would ultimately be an all-British showdown between Fury and Joshua, two of the most successful and popular boxers of the past decade. And when AJ put his belts on the line against Usyk in 2021, it could have been the next fight for both. Instead, the unfancied Usyk handed Joshua a severe beating, winning by unanimous decision, and went on to defend his titles in a rematch.

Fury – who’s held the WBO title since he won it from Deontay Wilder in February 2020 –has been trying to secure a fight against Usyk ever since, although there were bumps on the road, including a bout against mandatory challenger Dillian Whyte and a short-lived retirement. He was also distracted by other events such as his showpiece fight against former UFC champion Francis Ngannou in October 2023.

But after Fury beat Ngannou, he and Usyk announced that they would finally meet for the undisputed title. The date was set for February 2024, but had to be pushed back when Fury suffered a debilitating cut in training. But now the fight – dubbed “Ring Of Fire” and taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – is upon us.

What have they been saying?

Fury hasn’t really commented on the fight, so we don’t know what he thinks. Just kidding! In the initial press conference ahead of the postponed February date, he was typically garrulous and irrepressible, accusing Usyk of “crying on the floor” in his previous fight against Daniel Dubois and saying “that’s what he’ll do again when he gets busted up, blood all over the ring. He’ll be crawling on his hands on the floor, like a little sausage.” We’re not sure when sausages started crawling, but we liked the imagery.

The quieter Usyk – although to be fair, everyone is quieter than Fury – merely said that God would “deliver” Fury to him and when that happened, he would “do my job”. Fury retorted “impossible”, and referred repeatedly to Usyk as a “middleweight”, implying Fury would have too much power for the man who only stepped up to heavyweight in 2019.

But Fury has been more respectful in his recent utterances. “To underestimate Usyk you’d be a mug. I’m training hard for him, I’m doing everything I can,” he said in an interview. “I’m fighting the real deal. He’s got good footwork, good boxing ability, technically sound… I’m messing with an elite fighter.”

And while it’s true that Usyk’s heavyweight career is significantly shorter than Fury’s, the Englishman should bear in mind that Usyk was a pretty good cruiserweight. In fact, he was the undisputed cruiserweight champion of the world.

Who’s the favourite?

If you ask the bookmakers, and they usually know, it’s very, very close. Fury is the slight favourite, but “slight” is an understatement – they’ve both effectively got a 50-50 chance according to the odds.

When asked for his opinion, former featherweight champ Naseem Hamed hedged his bets, saying he believes Fury will win “if he stands up in the 12th round… Stand on his feet at the 12th round at the end of it and, God willing, it should be a points win to him” – hardly a ringing endorsem*nt of Fury’s chance of avoiding a knockout defeat.

Joshua, who’s experienced the power of Usyk up close twice, sounded less doubtful when tipping the Ukrainian. “Phenomenal fighter, does everything to a tee, and I would say he is going to do a really good job,” he said. “I have never fought Tyson Fury, so only speaking on what I know, I would have to say Oleksandr Usyk will be victorious.”

How do they measure up?

Who’s on the undercard?

With the full programme starting at 5.30pm, there’s a contest for the vacant IBF cruiserweight title (which Usyk held from 2018-19) between Australia’s Jai Opetaia and Mairis Briedis of Latvia, and Welsh super featherweight Joe Cordina will be defending his IBF belt against Ireland’s Anthony Cacace. Former light heavyweight champ Sergey Kovalev is in action against Robin Sirwan Safar in a cruiserweight bout, while British heavyweight prospect Moses Itauma is scheduled to take on Ilja Mezencev.

What’s next?

A rematch, regardless of the outcome. It’s likely to take place in October, again in Riyadh (hey, that’s where the money is). If Fury and Usyk win one each, the most likely consequence is a third clash. If Fury wins both, we may well get to see that mouth-watering fight against AJ in early 2025.

But let’s not forget: the most important result is that one of these fighters gets to call himself the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.

When is Fury v Usyk on TV?

You can see this heavyweight fight on TNT Sports Box Office with Virgin Media from 3pm on Saturday 18 May. It’s available to order from 10am on Tuesday 14 May and costs £24.99 (HD only). The event is repeated every two hours from 10am on Sunday 19 May until 8pm on Monday 20 May (last playout).

How can I order the fight?

To watch this event, you must have a TiVo® box, Virgin TV V6 box, powered by TiVo®, a Virgin TV 360 box or Stream.

TiVo® and V6 customers: Go to Home > On Demand > Live Events or press On Demand and go to Live Events. Press the red button then choose the event and follow the instructions on screen. A TV PIN may not be required. To view your booking, once purchased, go to On Demand > Live Events > Event Bookings.

Virgin TV 360 and Stream customers: Go to Home > Pay Per View events rail. Press OK, then choose the event and follow the instructions on screen. A TV PIN may not be required. To view your booking, once purchased, go to Home > Pay Per View events rail.