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.”
Read More : Will Tyson Fury fight Anthony Joshua? Will Gypsy King take a trilogy contest with Oleksandr Usyk instead?
Hearn tells Fury to fight AJ
“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.”
