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Ring announcer Michael Buffer has emerged from the tunnel. He’s just called for a performance of Saudi Arabia’s national anthem, a brief instrumental rendition that’s played through quickly. Now the (great) Atlanta rapper JID is performing in an open-air cube that descended from the rafters directly above the ring.

Donald McRae

It’s a quarter past midnight in Riyadh as the crowd awaits the entrances of Fury and Usyk. Here’s a dispatch from Donald McRae, our man at ringside:

I must be a sucker for punishment as I have been in the arena since 5pm, Riyadh time. The first six bouts on a long old 10-fight card were watched mostly in silence with the Kingdom Arena slowly filling to around a third of its capacity by 10pm. It’s apparently sold out tonight, with around 22,000 people expected. On the swanky side of ringside the seat names suggest that Anthony Joshua will be watching Fury v Usyk next to Cristiano Ronaldo. AJ’s name is printed in full while his pal for the night is, of course, on CR7 brand on the piece of paper pinned to a chair.

Sergey Kovalev, who had been out of the ring for two years, should really slip away into permanent retirement. Not many were really watching but he took a methodical beating before being knocked down by Sweden’s Robin Sirwan Safar just seconds before the final bell. There were then two quick first round stoppage wins for Mark Chamberlain, the lightweight, and Moses Itauma, the promising 19-year-old British heavyweight.

The fight of the night so far, by some distance, was the all-British IBF world title fight between the super-featherweights, Anthony Cacace from Belfast and Joe Cordina from Cardiff. Cordina, the champion, was dropped heavily in round three. He looked in serious trouble but, with immense grit, fought back. Cacace, however, was relentless. Cordina, having apparently been through a really draining weight cut this week, wilted under a fierce barrage of punches in round eight and the referee rightly rescued him. Cacace, having just become a world champion, was understandably jubilant.

When they left the ring the arena was two-thirds full and a little louder. Just after midnight local time, as the atmosphere builds gradually, I should start getting ready for work and writing about Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.

We asked veteran trainer Dominic Ingle to break down the tactics that could decide tonight’s winner. Dedicated fight fans know Ingle as the head trainer at Sheffield’s Wincobank Gym, which has produced a long line of champions including Ryan Rhodes, Johnny Nelson, Herol Graham, Naseem Hamed, Junior Witter and Kell Brook. His verdict:

Fury to win a very close points decision. But he will have to be very focused because Usyk is a busy fighter. It’s not just the volume of shots he throws, but the feints, the tap downs and setup shots. It has worked throughout his career but it will be a different story against Fury because of his height and range. I suspect Usyk will find it very difficult to get his back hand off because Fury will take a step back, put his arm out to fend him off and tap him with a jab. Don’t be surprised to see a split decision, assuming Fury’s eye isn’t opened up and chaos ensues.

Jai Opetaia has won the vacant IBF cruiserweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over Mairis Briedis. The ringside judges handed down scores of 117-111 and 116-112 (twice). The Sydney southpaw was in total control until a spot of drama in the late rounds, but he came through to reclaim the belt he vacated last year. The countdown to Fury v Usyk is on.

“I knew he was going to come home strong,” Opetaia says in an in-ring interview. “After he hit on my nose, it sort of rocked me a bit, but we stayed smart. We just kept boxing, and we won the fight. So that’s all that matters.”

He adds: “I’m honored to share the ring with a champion like that man. I watched this guy coming through the cruiserweight rankings, so I idolize this guy. To be here and share the ring with him, he’s a true warrior, and I’ve got nothing but respect.”

The week leading up to the most significant heavyweight fight in 25 years kicked off with a bang on Monday afternoon. Or, shall we say, a butt, when Tyson Fury’s famously excitable father, John, head-butted a member of Oleksandr Usyk’s entourage at a pre-fight media availability in Riyadh. The 59-year-old paterfamilias was left bloodied after making contact with a young ­Ukrainian, Stanislav Stepchuk, in reaction to a ­sustained chanting of Usyk’s name.

Cooler heads have prevailed in the days since, with fight week settling into a respectful tone following the early rancor, but the lowkey psychological warfare between Fury and Usyk has offered up rich fodder for armchair pundits.

Here’s where things stand with the order of play. We’re into the 10th round of a scheduled 12-round fight between Jai Opetaia and Mairis Briedis for the IBF vacant cruiserweight title. That’s the last of the nine undercard bouts on tonight’s card. Once that’s done, the countdown to the main event will begin.

We’ve been told to expect Fury and Usyk to make their ringwalks at the top of the hour, around midnight local time, or about 15 minutes from now. That feels a bit soon, but it shouldn’t be much longer beyond that point.

Here’s how the fighters measure up ahead of tonight’s showdown. Fury came in 262lbs at yesterday’s weigh-in, arguably the best shape of his career and more than 15lbs below his weight from a highly underwhelming showing against MMA champion Francis Ngannou in their November crossover fight. Usyk tipped the scales at a career-high 223.5lbs, two pounds heavier than he weighed for the second Joshua bout.

Fury’s advantages of seven inches of reach and six inches in height remain the most imposing physical obstacles facing Usyk, a former undisputed cruiserweight champion who has exceeded all expectations in five fights at heavyweight.

Hello and welcome to Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena for tonight’s summit meeting between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk. There are big fights. There are blockbusters. And there are events like this one which promise to define an era. For the first time since the dawn of the millennium, after a quarter-century of fracture and dispute, boxing will have an undisputed heavyweight champion.

Of the many well-documented reasons for boxing’s protracted retreat toward the periphery of the mainstream, the lack of clearly identifiable champions rates high on a competitive list. At one time the heavyweight championship of the world was the most prestigious title in sports, yet the lack of central authority has left us with four major sanctioning bodies that have served to create confusion among casual observers while devaluing the currency of a title.

Fury has owned the WBC’s version of the championship since his stunning knockout of Deontay Wilder in the middle installment of their epic trilogy, while Usyk owns the WBA, IBF and WBO straps, having won them from Anthony Joshua and defended them in a rematch. Fury’s claim to the throne is arguably purer as the lineal champion from his 2015 win over Wladimir Klitschko – the man who beat the man who beat the man – the successor of a pedigree traceable all the way back to John L Sullivan (but for the retirements of Lewis, Rocky Marciano and Gene Tunney).

The sport’s flagship division has long served as a bellwether for the popularity of fighting at large. As the heavyweights go, they say, so does boxing. For all the acclaim that awaits tonight’s winner, one could argue that a sport stands to gain even more.

Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s a look at the long and winding road to tonight’s summit meeting.