Tyson Fury tipped the scales at a career-heavy weight as he faced off with Oleksandr Usyk for the final time before Saturday night’s showdown.
The Briton is bidding for revenge after he was beaten by Usyk in their undisputed clash earlier this year, in what was the first professional defeat of his career.
At Friday’s weigh-in, Fury came in at 281lbs, though he was still wearing a leather jacket, trousers and seemingly a number of layers, making it hard to know his true weight. He was only 262lbs for the first fight with Usyk.
The Ukrainian, meanwhile, weighed 226lbs, two-and-a-half pounds heavier than he was earlier this year. He also also fully-clothed on the scales, and wore a heavy chain.
Fury opted against giving an interview after the weigh-in, as Usyk said he felt “nothing” after meeting his rival for one last time before they enter the ring.
Frank Warren, Fury’s promoter, said: “Yeah he’s heavier but I think the other guy is as well.
“You can analyse it anyway you like but tomorrow night you’re going to find out who is the best. You know both of them will come to fight. We are going to see something extra, extra special.”
On Thursday, the two remarkably faced off for 12 minutes at the end of the press conference, with WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman among those to unsuccessfully try and break the eye contact.
READ MORE:Tyson Fury may have just one fight left after Oleksandr Usyk defeat – here’s why it will only be Anthony Joshua
Eventually Fury was dragged away as he and Usyk exchanged increasingly animated words, in what was the only real drama following a largely uneventful press conference.
There was no repeat of that tension at the weigh-in, as Fury broke away from the face-off, conducted from a couple of feet apart, after just a few seconds and made his way off the stage.
Tyson Fury may have only one fight left in him and it’s one Gareth A Davies believes ‘all Brits would love to see’.
Fury fought valiantly against Oleksandr Usyk in their rematch on Saturday in Saudi Arabia but it was still not enough to exact revenge as Usyk retained his belts thanks to a unanimous decision verdict.
The result preserved Usyk’s perfect record and cemented him as one of the all-time greats in the heavyweight division.
As for Fury, he is now at a crucial juncture in his career.
At 36 years of age, he only has so many years left at the top of boxing before father time inevitably catches up.
Additionally, the only two losses in his career are to Usyk, who has now beaten him twice on points.
But does he look to join the illustrious company of Muhammad Ali, Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis and Michael Moorer by making one final push to become a three-time heavyweight world champion?
READ MORE:Tyson Fury vs Oleksansdr Usyk LIVE result and highlights as Brit loses again
Well, according to talkSPORT boxing experts Davies and Spencer Oliver, they don’t believe that will eventuate.
Instead, a long-awaited domestic dust-up likely awaits.
“He’s got to go back and take a well-earned rest and just decide what he wants to do with his career now,” Oliver said.
“He’s achieved everything, hasn’t he? He’s done it, rolled the dice, tried to avenge a loss. It never went his way. Another great, great contest.
“What else is there to prove? What else is there to do? I tell you what might happen, I tell you where it’s going to go. I’m going to put it on the line right now and I think I’m right with this.
“We get Anthony Joshua versus Tyson Fury next. Why? Because they want it in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and I know that Turki Alalshikh wants it because he wants the best fighting the best of modern eras.
“That’s the next fight for both of them.”
Davies agreed with Oliver in terms of Joshua being the next logical opponent for Fury.
But outside of Joshua, Davies struggled to envisage any other logical opponent for Fury.
“The thing is, where does Tyson Fury go now, what does he do,” Davies said.
“There’s nothing more to accomplish. He was a brilliant heavyweight champion, two-time heavyweight champion of the world.
“If he wants the Anthony Joshua fight, fine. All Brits would love to see that fight.
“But I don’t think we’re going to see much more of Tyson Fury. He may fight Anthony Joshua, but I don’t see him coming back to fight anyone else.”
Even though Joshua and Fury are both coming off defeats, with the former being stopped in spectacular fashion by Daniel Dubois at Wembley in September, a bout between the pair would undoubtedly be a lucrative one.
Joshua and Fury’s star power, especially in England, has not waned in the face of their recent defeats and would almost certainly sell out at Wembley Stadium, if it was to be held on British soil.
However, with Joshua and Fury being 35 and 36 years old respectively, there is a limited timeframe for this fight to be made while the two are still somewhat in their primes, even if it may be at the tail-end of it.
An immediate rematch against Dubois does not appear to be on the cards for Joshua, as the former confronted Usyk in the ring after his second win and challenged him to a rematch.
Dubois must first defend his title against Kiwi contender Joseph Parker in February before he can shift focus towards exacting revenge on Usyk, who stopped the Brit in August last year.
Fury will no doubt enjoy a thoroughly-deserved rest after his second loss to Usyk.
But at some stage, he must have the conversation about what he wants to do next.
Speaking after the fight, Fury issued a cryptic response to whether he will fight again.
“You might see me fight again, you might not,” he said.
As Oliver and Davies pointed out, Joshua’s name is almost guaranteed to pop up in those talks.
Tyson Fury had the chance to avenge his only career defeat when he took on Oleksandr Usyk last night in their heavyweight rematch – but was on the end of another decision defeat
Tyson Fury’s mission to avenge his only professional defeat ended in crushing disappointment as he lost on a unanimous points decision to unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in Riyadh.
Another classic encounter between the well-matched rivals ended with Usyk retaining his WBC, WBA and WBO belts by finishing 116-112 ahead on all three judges’ scorecards. It was a fair reflection of the Ukrainian’s control of the rematch given he set the pace for most of the 12 rounds and was the harder worker, landing more frequently and with greater impact.
On the undercard, Moses Itauma destroyed Demsey McKean inside the first round while Dave Allen was robbed of a win over Johnny Fisher after dropping his unbeaten British rival in the fifth round. You can re-live all the action from Saturday night right here and watch highlights of the heavyweight showdown…
Tyson Fury insisted Oleksandr Usyk had been gifted an early Christmas present after disputing the Ukrainian’s unanimous points victory in their rematch in Riyadh.
Fury lost 116-112 on all three judges’ scorecards as his bid to avenge his only career loss ended conclusively with the extraordinary Usyk retaining his WBA, WBC and WBO titles. Promoter Frank Warren said he was “dumbfounded” by both the result and the wide margin of victory – and Fury agreed.
“I felt a little Christmas spirit in there and I think he got a little Christmas gift from them judges. An early Christmas gift,” said Fury, who lost the first fight in May by split decision. “I was confident I had won that fight again. I thought I’d won both fights, but then again I’ve gone home with two losses on my record. I will always believe until the day I die that I won that fight.
“I’m not going to cry over spilt milk. It’s happened now. I know boxing, I’ve been in it all my life and you can’t change no decisions. I will always feel a little bit hard done by. Not a little bit, actually a lot. When you don’t get the knockout, this is what happens. You can’t guarantee the win.”
“I don’t think it’s time to start screaming, this night is Usyk vs Fury, but the reality is there’s only one fight for Tyson Fury and that’s Anthony Joshua,” Hearn told DAZN. “It’s the biggest fight probably in the history of British boxing, everyone will always want to see it. And by the way, that wasn’t a Tyson Fury that looked finished, it wasn’t a flat performance, it wasn’t a poor performance, he didn’t look gun-shy, he didn’t look like his punch resistance was in question like we talked about earlier.
“I think Tyson Fury is still potentially at the peak of his powers, just not good enough to beat Oleksandr Usyk. But for me, AJ against Fury is the one, it’s the one at Wembley, I’m going to be pushing His Excellency [Turki Alalshikh] to make the fight, but that’s maybe one for another day, tonight belongs to Oleksandr Usyk. But Fury will struggle with this, I think. All fighters do, AJ struggled with the Dubois defeat as well, you’re a winner and when you get beat it hurts and this will hurt Fury.
Fury on what’s next…
“I’m going to go home and have a good Christmas. I’m going to wait 12 weeks. I put a lot of work in for this fight and I’m going to go home now and enjoy it.”
On whether he felt Usyk’s spirit: “I didn’t feel any spirit. I felt a little bit of Chritsmas spirit in there and I think he got a little Christmas gift from the judges. Christmas gift early!”
Mor on his performance: “I thought I won both fights. I know what I had to do… knock him out to get a decision, but do you know what… it’s boxing, it happens. And there’s no doubt in my mind I won the fight, and that’s it.”
Fury was ‘confident’ that he was ahead heading into the final round
Speaking at the post-fight press conference, the ‘Gypsy King’ insisted he felt as if he was ahead going into the final round. “Yeah. I was quite confident. I thought I won that fight again. I think I got Larry Holmesed here. I thought I won both fights, but then again, I’ve gone home with two losses on my record. So, there’s not much I can do about it. I can just fight my heart out and do the best I can. But again, I’ll always believe it till the day I die, I thought I won that fight.
Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk II highlights
Check out the action below from what was an epic main event in Riyadh. From start to finish, both men were aware of the task at hand and they both put on an exceptional performance.
Despite suffering his second loss to Usyk, Fury has absolutely no reason to hang his head in shame.
Tyson Fury reacts to defeat
In a brief conversation with ESPN, he said: “I thought I won the fight again, I was Larry Holmesed again. I was on the front foot the entire time. When you don’t get the knockout, this is what can happen.”
