The Fury-Usyk headline boasts an array of undercards. Outside of the regular non-title fights, a few title fights deck out to keep the audience at the edge of their seats before the main event hits the ring. Tyson Fury, the WBC heavyweight champion, is meeting Oleksandr Usyk, the unified heavyweight champion. The latter currently holds the WBA (super), WBO, and IBF belts alongside his IBO and Ring titles. Both heavyweights are staking a claim to the division’s long-vacant, undisputed title.

The duo’s momentous clash on Saturday, May 18, at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, follows an earlier cancellation. Initially fixed for February 17, the entire card underwent rescheduling to the present date after Fury suffered a sparring injury. Alongside some of the key fights, such as the IBF cruiserweight match between Joe Opetaia and Mairis Briedis or the IBF super featherweight bout featuring Joe Cordina and Anthony Cacace, the card showcases a clash between the Englishman Mark Chamberlain and the Nigerian Joshua Oluwaseun Wahab. The two lightweights will fight for the WBC silver title as part of one of the many feature events.

Record: Knockout Ratio

Debuting professionally on December 15, 2018, 25-year-old Mark Chamberlain has thus far participated in 15 fights. He has yet to cede a battle. Out of the fifteen, he won 11 matches via knockouts. Thus, his knockout-to-win rate stands at 73.33%. ‘Da Bomb’ enters the fight after a successful campaign at the Anthony Joshua–Francis Ngannou headlined ‘Knockout Chaos’. He stopped the European lightweight champion Gavin Gwynne in the fourth round to grab the vacant WBA intercontinental lightweight title. Last year, he entered the ring three times to defend his IBF European lightweight title, which he won on July 2, 2022.

In comparison, Joshua Oluwaseun Wahab seems to have enjoyed much higher exposure to the ring. Beginning his professional journey on July 26, 2014, the Lagos-born and now Accra, Ghana resident, has fought 24 times, out of which he won twenty-three and lost one—his first and only defeat two years ago. Last year, on March 3, he defeated Sikiru Shogbesan in the eleventh round of their match. The victory made him the WBO Africa super featherweight champion. With 16 of his total wins coming by way of early stoppages, Wahab’s knockout-to-win rate stays at 69.57%.

Physiological Metrics: Height, Weight, Reach, and so on

Sadly, the height and details of Mark Chamberlain and Joshua Oluwaseun Wahab remain conspicuously absent. The Portsmouth southpaw weighed about 134.6 pounds during his last fight against Welshman Gavin Gwynne. On the other hand, his 33-year-old opponent weighed nearly 129.8 pounds. So it should be safe to assume that both boxers will be able to meet the mandated weight requirements.

Predictions for the bout

Betting odds place them at a high of -1400 against Joshua Oluwaseun Wahab’s +750. The latter might have more experience. But the fact remains that he is pitched against a much younger opponent, with a thunderous left hand that has devastated some of the known names in the European circuit at least. Moreover, with an ambition that has propelled him to the top 15 rankings of all four major sanctioning bodies, the English boxer is an unstoppable force.

Additionally, the Nigerian boxer’s relative inactivity lasted over 12 months and the fact that the last time he fought at 135 pounds was back in March 2021, renders him a disadvantage. Probably that could be the reason why Mark Chamberlain remains a clear favorite to win.

What are your thoughts on the match-up? Do you think Joshua Oluwaseun Wahab could stage an upset on Saturday? Please share your views with us in the comments below.