The undercard for this Saturday’s Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk event is a mixed bag for their PPV event on DAZN in Riyadh. Some fans like the first three undercard fights but have a ‘who cares’ attitude about the remainder of the card. Personally, I only see one decent fight on the undercard between heavyweights Frank Sanchez and Agit Kabayel. That’s a decent match, but not great by any means.
The rest of the undercard is lackluster, with the A-side fighters matched against no-hopers who have no chance of winning. Cruiserweight Jai Opetaia will be fighting 39-year-old Mairis Briedis in a rematch, which I feel is needless because he soundly beat him by a 12-round decision in 2022. Given Briedis’ advanced age and two years of inactivity, he should be taking a tune-up rather than fighting the 27-year-old Opetaia again.
If the promoters for this event eliminated these fights from the card and dropped the PPV price to the $40 range, there wouldn’t be any complaints whatsoever because these six fights are just filler and not worth watching. I guess if you’re into watching Isaac Lowe or 41-year-old Sergey Kovalev, you might like these fights, but I’m not interested in either of these fighters. Neither of them are going anywhere.
Overall Disappointment
Looking at the undercard for the Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk event, it’s hard not to feel disappointed. While the matchup between Frank Sanchez and Agit Kabayel seems intriguing, the rest of the fights fall flat. It’s a shame to see talented fighters like Jai Opetaia and Mairis Briedis being matched up in unnecessary rematches when there are more deserving opponents out there. The lack of competitive matchups and the presence of filler fights on the undercard make it hard to justify the price of the PPV event.
While the main event between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk promises to be an exciting clash of two heavyweight titans, the undercard leaves much to be desired. Fans who are tuning in for the entire event may find themselves disappointed with the lackluster matchups and filler fights that do little to add value to the overall viewing experience. As boxing fans, we deserve better than a lineup of mismatched fighters and unnecessary rematches.