Seven months on from losing his world heavyweight championships to Oleksandr Usyk, The Gypsy King faced off against the Ukrainian once more in Saudi Arabia…
Seven months on from losing his world heavyweight championships to Oleksandr Usyk, The Gypsy King faced off against the Ukrainian once more in Saudi Arabia… Seven months on from losing his world heavyweight championships to Oleksandr Usyk, The Gypsy King faced off against the Ukrainian once more in Saudi Arabia…
It wasn’t meant to be for Tyson Fury as he fell to defeat in his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.
Fury weighed a career-high 20stones 1lbs for his mission to avenge his only professional defeat. Usyk, the WBA, WBC and WBO world heavyweight champion, entered the fight in Riyadh as marginal favourite, after winning the first contest in May by split decision.
And despite protests from Usyk’s camp that it was too long, the Gypsy King entered the Kingdom Arena with his beard in tact.
Right from the start Fury took the centre of the ring, showing more intent to carry the fight to his opponent than in their previous encounter. Towering over the champion, the Briton spat out his jab but he was also taking shots to the body and by the second round he was being stalked around the ring by Usyk – a theme of the first fight. The pace was being set by Usyk but both fighters were landing in a lively start to the clash.
FULL REACTION: Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk – As It Happens
Usyk connected with two big left hands in the fourth round. As the fight approached the halfway stage it was desperately close, Fury staggering the Ukrainian with a short left uppercut and imposing his size and power in round five. Unlike their first meeting, there was no showboating from the Brit.
But Usyk battled back in the sixth, catching Fury a number of times, and the champion had the better of the seventh and eighth too. After round eight, Fury’s trainer, Sugarhull Steward, urged him to be more aggressive and not to be pushed back.
A better ninth round from Fury saw him ahead on the respective scorecards of Richie Woodall and Carl Frampton, both working in Saudi for TNT Sport.
But by the final round, Steward was warning Fury in his corner that “the fight’s too f****** close. There’s no tomorrow. You’ve got to go and take it!”
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At the final bell, Fury raised an arm to signify his belief that he’d taken victory, while Usyk dropped to his knees, staring up to the heavens in prayer, before Fury approached and kissed him on top of his head.
But it was Usyk who took victory on all three judges’ scorecards, claiming the win 116-112 on all three.
However, AI, in a move orchestrated by Turki Alalshikh, scored the bout even WIDER, making it 118-112 in Usyk’s favour.
Asked about the scorecards, Usyk said: “I win. I’m perfect.”
And on Fury, after being challenged in the ring by Daniel Dubois, he said: “Tyson is a great fighter. A great opponent. Unbelievable 24 rounds for my career. Thank you so much.”
Mirror – Sport