British heavyweight Tyson Fury’s loss to Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday has sparked an international controversy.
Usyk became the first undisputed world heavyweight champion in 24 years by earning a split-decision win over Fury. A 9th-round knockdown of Fury contributed to the Ukrainian’s narrow victory on two of the judges’ scorecards.
Tyson Fury’s been knocked down a total of 8 times (?) in his career. But nobody has had him hurt and staggering the way Oleksandr Usyk did there.
💥 That was a peach of a left hand that began the chaos!#FuryUsyk #UsykFury pic.twitter.com/Eub2WAl3pi
— Gorilla Productions (@GPboxing) May 19, 2024
However, the 6’8 British fighter did not agree with the decision.
“I believe I won that fight,” Fury said. “I believe he won a few of the rounds, but I won the majority of them, and I believe it was one of those what-can-you-do, one of them… decisions in boxing. We both put on a good fight, best we can do.
“You know, his country is at war, so people are siding with a country at war. But make no mistake, I won that fight, in my opinion, and I’ll be back. I’ve got a rematch clause.”
Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk exchange punches during the IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO, and Undisputed Heavyweight titles fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk at Kingdom Arena on May 18, 2024, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
The final scorecards read as follows: Usyk won the fight 115-112 and 114-113 on two of the cards. The third judge gave Fury a 114-113 victory.
Unsurprisingly, Usyk saw it differently.
“Thank you so much to my team,” Usyk said. “It’s a big opportunity for me, for my family, for my country. Slava Ukraini!”
Usyk, who already held the WBA, IBF, and WBO belts, added Fury’s WBC crown to complete the first unification of belts at the heavyweight level since another British fighter, Lennox Lewis, held them for five months in 1999 and 2000.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
