Oleksandr Usyk faces again Tyson Fury for the heavyweight supremacy on Saturday night at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In this rematch only the three straps are on the line. Usyk relinquished the IBF version to prioritize the rematch rather than fighting Daniel Dubois.

It takes humility to be great especially in defeat. Some may have a hard time accepting defeat and would end up excuses.

Deontay Wilder's corner threw the towel in Round 7. To save him from more damaging punishment from Tyson Fury. A tough judgment call by his corner.

Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) lost the rematch via technical knockout against Fury on Saturday at the MGM Grand, Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. It was his first career loss, which he's not taking graciously.

Wilder initially questioned the decision of co-trainer Mark Breland. And then later on blamed entrance costume for his loss to Fury. Wilder was upset with Breland. And hinted Breland may no longer part of the team anymore.

I am upset with Mark for the simple fact that we’ve talked about this many times and it’s not emotional. It is not an emotional thing, it’s a principal thing. We’ve talked about this situation many, many years before this even happened. I said as a warrior, as a champion, as a leader, as a ruler, I want to go out on my shield. If I’m talking about going in and killing a man, I respect the same way. I abide by the same principal of receiving," Wilder said in a phone interview with Yahoo Sport's Kevin Iole.

Then Wilder blamed the costume which is too heavy for him.

“He didn’t hurt me at all, but the simple fact is ... that my uniform was way too heavy for me,” Wilder said. “I didn’t have no legs from the beginning of the fight.

Well, I think all these excuses will just, you know, emotionally heavy for Wilder to do the explaining about this and that.

I mean, accepting defeat would open more discussions about his future moving forward.

Well, it is damn easy for you and me, you know, to talk about accepting defeat because we're not the one in that ring and losing that "O" in the record.

But what I'm saying is instead of throwing excuses here and there, why not talk about how greater or greatest your opponent is because that will make you great.

So what's next for Wilder? I'd love to see him fight Andy Ruiz Jr as the undercard of Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua.

The main event was the winners of the rematch against the undercard. The undercard was the losers of the rematch against the main event.

I'm not saying the above will happen soon as Wilder seemed inclined to exercise the rematch clause.

After all the trash talk you could imagine during the build-up of the fight, it ended up with huge respect. That's boxing.

Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder fought to a draw on Saturday night at the Staples Center, in Los Angeles. It was an entertaining action fight that produced breathtaking knockdown. A match-up of two different interesting styles.

Wilder (40-0-1, 39 KOs) scored two crucial knockdowns that saved him from a clear decision loss. Wilder knocked Fury down in Round 9 and Round 12.  Judge Alejandro Rochin scored 115-111 for Wilder. Robert Tapper saw it 114-112 in favor of Fury, while Phil Edwards scored 113-113, a draw.

It was a sweeping first three rounds for Fury, (27-0-1, 19 KOs) as he landed clear combinations, while Wilder is looking for a home run shot. Fury was able to duck, feint and roll those heavily loaded shots from Wilder. He was quick and not committing so much with his punches to avoid counters.

Wilder, most likely took Round 4 as he connected clear right hands He lanced a hard shot that blooded Fury's nose in the same round. But the succeeding four rounds could be all Fury as he landed double jabs and short hooks to the head.

In Round 9, Wilder landed a hard right knocking down Fury. The knockdown was really a confidence booster for Wilder as he's obviously behind the scorecards. But that was certainly not enough.

In the 12th Round, Wilder dropped Fury with a huge right hand and followed it up with a left while Fury was on his way down. From the looks of it, it was certainly over. He fell heavily on the floor, but Fury stood up like the "Undertaker" and continue to wrestle.

In the end, all three judges had different conclusions and resulted in a split draw.

"I think with the two knockdowns, I definitely won the fight," Wilder said. "We poured our hearts out tonight. We're both warriors, but with those two drops, I think I won the fight."

Fury also felt he won the fight.

"We're on away soil. I got knocked down twice, but I still believe I won that fight," Fury said. "I'm being a total professional here. I went to Germany to fight Klitschko, and I went to America to fight Deontay Wilder. God bless America. The 'Gypsy King' has returned.

"That man is a fearsome puncher, and I was able to avoid that. The world knows I won the fight."

Tyson Fury knows what the alphabet gangs do not: They don’t decide who the real champ is.

Showtime’s Brian Custer recently referred to Deontay Wilder as the “world heavyweight champion” and so contributed to the mass confusion in boxing. Would-be fans —precisely the demographic the sport needs to attract— scratched their heads and wondered what the hell happened two weeks ago when Tyson Fury defeated Wlad Klitschko and was declared the “heavyweight champion of the world.” An unknown number of them reached for the clicker.

The Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, a fifty-member, all-volunteer initiative representing eighteen countries invites them to put the clicker down and stay tuned. It recommends approaching the sport as they would a holiday with family. When Uncle Ralph staggers over to intrude on a pleasant exchange claiming something is that assuredly isn’t, wave him off. If he can’t take a hint and proves immune to courteous correction, escort him to the door and lock him out in the cold. He’ll sober up eventually. Boxing is overrun with Uncle Ralphs. We find them well-poised on television and meticulous in print, but most of their claims regarding the championships are gobbledygook. Do any of them really believe there are eighty-six champions in the seventeen weight divisions? Do they know the difference between Deontay Wilder’s belt and the divisional crown?

THE CROWN VS. BELTS

Tyson Fury, insists the Board above the nonsense and the din, is heavyweight king. He takes his place in a succession that includes the vanquished Wlad Klitschko, fellow Briton Lennox Lewis, Fury’s namesake Mike Tyson, and thirty-three others give or take. Each divisional succession is an ongoing march through history with expected breaks and disruptions and which began with the first championship bout fought under the Marquess of Queensberry rules. The heavyweights’ stretch back at least to Gentleman Jim Corbett, if not John L. Sullivan — both sons of Éire like Fury himself.

Anyone with more sense than a partridge in a pear tree knows that there are two paths into a divisional succession: (1) defeat the true champion or (2) if said champion retires or otherwise abdicates, earn a top-two ranking and defeat the top or next-best contender.

And what of “world heavyweight champion” Wilder? He did neither. In January 2015, he defeated Bermane Stiverne (then ranked third in the Transnational Rankings when he was ranked sixth) after both contenders surrendered a percentage of their purses to the WBC. That belt Wilder carries is quite literally bought and paid for. It’s a fabrication; a fabrication puffed up by boxing media as something more but that had nothing to do with Wlad Klitschko and therefore had nothing to do with the heavyweight crown.

Wilder was fervent anyway. “I want to fight four times a year,” he said afterward. “Whoever’s ready, I’m ready.” The response of ESPN’s Dan Rafael was proof positive that the language in the sport must change: “Fight fans who have been searching for a [sic] American heavyweight champion surely are also.”

Tyson Fury understands the problem better than most. “If I want a belt, I can go and buy one,” he said last year. “It’s pointless. There’s the status of saying you’re a ‘world champion’, but when there’s twenty-five different world sanctioning bodies, it doesn’t mean nothing.”

TYSON FURY IN MUHAMMAD ALI’S FOOTSTEPS

Earlier this month, the IBF stripped Fury of their belt because of his intention to give Klitschko a rematch. The heavyweight king responded while doing roadwork. “They should take all of them away from me if they want,” he told reporter Peter Lane. “But they’ll never take what I’ve done.”

He’s in good company. The WBA pulled the same stunt on Muhammad Ali in 1964 after he agreed to a rematch against Sonny Liston. It was a move laughed at by yesterday’s more discerning boxing writers. “The WBA is an imaginary organization,” wrote Red Smith. “When Liston and Clay fight again and the winner is recognized as champion by the public, the press, and the participants, the WBA’s pretensions to power must evaporate.” At the other end of Ali’s career, the WBC took their own swing at his legacy when they stripped Leon Spinks in 1978 for agreeing to fight him in a rematch. They “awarded” the belt to Ken Norton and it was begrudgingly acknowledged by increasingly less-discerning boxing writers.

Trainer Peter Fury was more correct than we supposed when he compared Fury’s upset win over Klitschko with Ali’s upset win over Liston. Fury’s recent dismissal of homosexuality and the value of women in society left him wide open for censure, but Ali said worse. Before becoming America’s secular saint, Ali was a divisive figure who routinely thumbed his nose at the majority culture. “A black man should be killed if he’s messing with a white woman,” he said during a Playboy interview in 1975. And what of a Black Muslim woman who wants to go out with a white man? “Then she dies. Kill her, too.”

In case you haven’t noticed, Ali is celebrated by the very demographic that now condemns Fury.

A HERALD OF CHANGE?

Fury, who shuffled his feet familiarly a few times during the Klitschko fight, can likewise redefine himself as something other than a provocateur of the political left; he can step forward as a herald of change in boxing. Reform is in the air. It’s in his ear. “Gonna speak with [promoter] Mick [Hennessy] and & Tyson to give all belts away. Win em & vacate the lot. Money racket,” tweeted his trainer on December 9. “We know who the real champ is.”

The IBF, WBA, WBC, et al. would rather we didn’t. Unaccountable to anything outside their counting houses, they will continue to thrive in the mass confusion and make decisions based solely on their interests.

The heavyweight king is expected to do what is in his interests, but is also signaling his willingness to do something more.

The Transnational Boxing Rankings Board’s only interest resides in that “something more.” It will continue to provide clarity for fans and fighters alike by publishing clean, globally-represented rankings at www.tbrb.org and identifying “the real champs” with virtual crowns that don’t cost a thing.

_________________

Springs Toledo is a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board.  Special thanks to Jose Corpas and Tim Starks.

Tyson Fury is the new heavyweight champion of the world! He won on points against Wladimir Klitschko in their heavyweight clash in Germany on Saturday night.

The official score: 115-112, 115-112 and 166-111 all for Fury.

It was really a dull performance of the former champion. Klitschko (64-4, 53 KOs) just landed a total of 52 punches in 12 rounds to Tyson's 86. He just landed four body shots versus Fury's 20.

Klitschko the obvious power puncher simply didn't let his hands go landing only 18 power shots to Fury's 48.

The classic Klitschko really showed tonight but it's just that Tyson Fury (25-0, 18 KOs) had a different approach tonight compared to Klitschko's previous challengers. Fury just did a little more than what Klitschko is doing to win points in every round.

Klitschko really got the dose of his own medicine tonight. Fury was able to capitalize his reach and height advantage, which was Klitschko's advantage against former smaller challengers.

Wladimir Klitschko and Tyson Fury's combined weight was 493 pounds during the weigh-in.

On fight night, they could weigh more than 500 pounds for their heavyweight championship clash at the Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, Saturday night.

The stats

There were times Klitschko's fight had been with challengers heavier than him. But most of the time, the 6’6” reigning heavyweight champ from Ukraine, had the height and reach advantage on those challengers. Then Klitschko (64-3, 53 KOs) would capitalize on those advantages and win.

Klitschko uses his 81" reach as a jab that earned him the “Dr. Steel Hammer” moniker to keep an opponent at bay and also busting the opponent's nose at the same time. He also uses his height to lean on shorter opponents during clinched -- if an opponent manages to close the gap.

Against Tyson Fury, Klitschko doesn’t have the above advantages.  Fury (24-0, 18 KOs) has the three inches height advantages at 6’9” over Klitschko at 6’6”. But the champion has the obvious ring experience having 67 total bouts to Fury’s 24. On the flip side, Fury is the younger fighter at 27 years old, while Klitschko is 12 years senior at 39.

The fight

In the early rounds, I think Klitschko will start slow as usual. Although if Fury forces the action early, the tempo might be changed, I expect Klitschko to clinch a little bit more if the younger Fury engages early and choose to fight from inside.

The battle of jabs

In the third, Fury will use his legs effectively and throw more jabs to counter Klitschko’s heavy jabs.

But the champion adjusts in the fourth round, blasting Fury with his signature one-two combo as Fury launches his attacks.

In the middle rounds, Fury continues to land some jabs from outside. He will use angles with his footwork, but also take harder shots from the champion, who steps up the gas and shifts to a higher gear.

In the seventh, it is obvious that Klitschko's ring experience and power took over. He’s landing the harder shots that showed its damaging effect on the challenger.

In the ninth, Klitchsko’s power finally ends the challenger's bid for the world heavyweight championship. The champion lands a textbook one-two combo spot on the button that sends Fury hard to the canvass. Klitschko TKO9.

The likely new date for the Klitschk0-Fury heavyweight fight will be on November 28. The official confirmation is expected next week.

It was reported on Friday, and later Klitschko confirmed from his Instagram post that he was forced to pull out the scheduled October title defense due to a 'minor injury.

Klitschko, 39, suffered an injury to his left calf while training on Thursday.

The postponement was not new to Fury, 27, who had three other scheduled fights in the past that were delayed. But this fight is very important for the UK fighter because a win would eventually put his name on the pound-for-pound list.

Following an entertaining press conference earlier, there's a report circulating around social media that Klitschko has pulled out from the scheduled October 24 fight against Tyson Fury due to 'calf injury.

This report has been circulating for a short while on social media but there's no official confirmation yet.

Update: Klitschko posted on his Instagram and confirmed that he will not be able to fight on October 24 due to an injury. The fight will be postponed to a date to be determined later.

Klitschko said that he suffered a 'minor injury' during Thursday's training sessions.

After a dominating performance on Saturday night, the big man from UK, Tyson Fury says, "I want Klitschko next".

Fury (24-0, 18 KO) dominated Christian Hammer (17-4, 10 KO) in a stay-working fight. After the the eighth round, the fight was stop when Hammer's corner stopped the contest.

Wladimir Klitschko, the heavyweight champion that held most of the aphabet titles, will be fighting back in the States against American Bryant Jennings. The fight will be held at the Madison Square Garden in New York.

It will remains to be seen if Klitschko will fight Fury for what it seems to be a big show for both big men, especially if the fight will be in the UK.

But before he could even make his decision, he should get past first Jennings who is a tough contender and undefeated in 19 fights.