Tyson Fury accused the judges of helping Oleksandr Usyk because the Ukrainian’s nation is “at war”, after Usyk outpointed the Briton to win the undisputed heavyweight titles.
Usyk was a split-decision winner against Fury in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday (18 May). The scorecards read 115-112 to Usyk, 114-113 to Usyk, and 114-113 to Fury.
In the ninth round, Fury was arguably lucky not to see the fight waved off when Usyk hurt him badly. Usyk, 37, had Fury, 35, out on his feet, but the referee gave the Briton a strange standing count – potentially saving him from a knockout loss. Yet Fury feels he was denied a rightful victory.
“His country is at war, so people are siding with the country at war,” Fury said in the ring after his loss – the first defeat of his professional career, while Usyk stayed unbeaten.
“I believe I won that fight, I believe he won a few of the rounds, but I won the majority of them,” Fury added. “We both put on a good fight. His country is at war, so people are siding with the country at war.
“Make no mistake, I won that fight in my opinion. We’ve got a rematch clause. I’ve had a split-decision loss to a good little man. We run it back in October. Well done, Oleksandr.”
Usyk’s win made him the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis, who won that status against Evander Holyfield in 1999 and lost it in 2000, when he had to vacate one of his belts.
