The undisputed heavyweight championship of the world, fought for between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury, came down to the scorecard of just one judge.
Tony Bellew, whose final fight was a stoppage loss to Usyk in the cruiserweight ranks, has praised his former opponent, believing the Ukrainian sacrificed a simple victory in favour of a more entertaining affair. He discussed the fight with promoter Eddie Hearn on his podcast, Club Bellew.
“I’m just amazed at how he [did] it. I’m telling you now – and people are gonna laugh – he could’ve won that fight with ease. He goes in that ring and just goes on the back foot, it’s gonna be the worst fight in history to watch, but he wins every single minute of every single round if he just counterpunches Tyson Fury, because Tyson Fury cannot go forward.”
The fight was far from dull, with momentum shifts and a nail-biting knockdown in round nine. Usyk would take it on two scorecards (115-112 and 114-113) with the third judge giving Fury the nod 114-113.
Bellew said that, even with the drama, it should have been a clean sweep for Usyk.
“It should’ve been unanimous by the way, it shouldn’t have been a split decision. I mean, how a judge has given it to Fury… When you watch it back, you’ll appreciate what you see.”
Fury and his team believe he did enough to win the fight, but congratulated Usyk on the historic victory. The pair have a contracted rematch that is slated for October. It is highly unlikely to be for the undisputed title, much to Bellew’s distaste.
