British heavyweight Tyson Fury’s loss to Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday has now become an international controversy.
Usyk defeated Fury by split decision to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world for the first time in 24 years. Fury’s nine-round knockdown contributed to the Ukrainian’s narrow victory on both judges’ scorecards.
Tyson Fury has been knocked down a total of eight (?) times in his career. But no one has hurt him and staggered him like Oleksandr Usyk did there.
💥 The confusion started with the peach on the left!#Fury Usyk #usykfury pic.twitter.com/Eub2WAl3pi
— Gorilla Production (@GPboxing) May 19, 2024
However, the 6-foot-8-inch British fighter did not agree with this decision.
“I believe I won that fight,” Fury said. “I think he won some rounds, but I won most of them. I think it was one of those decisions you can’t control in boxing. We both had a good fight. We did the best we could.
“You know, his country is at war, so people are on the side of the country at war. But don’t get me wrong, in my opinion, I won that battle, and I won’t go back.” There’s a rematch clause.”
Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk exchange punches during their IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO and Undisputed heavyweight title fight at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on May 18, 2024. Oleksandr Usyk. (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
The final scorecard looked like this: Usyk won on his two cards 115-112 and 114-113. The third judge gave Fury a 114-113 victory.
Naturally, Usyk saw it differently.
“I’m really grateful to my team,” Usyk said. “This is a great opportunity for me, for my family and for the country. Slava Ukraine!”
Usyk, who already held the WBA, IBF and WBO belts, added Fury’s WBC title to become the first at the heavyweight level since fellow British fighter Lennox Lewis held it for five months in 1999 and 2000. Achieved the first Bullets unification.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
