Oleksandr Usyk didn’t have things all his own way when he defeated Tyson Fury back in May.
The Ukrainian became the only man to get his hand raised against ‘The Gypsy King’ when the two battled it out to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis nearly 25 years ago.
Both men had periods of success in the fight, with Fury controlling the middle rounds but Usyk turning the tide with a huge ninth where he had Fury out on his feet. The 10-8 score proved crucial in the former cruiserweight champion taking a split decision victory.
During Fury’s best rounds, and some of the toughest of Usyk’s career, the Brit was catching the Ukrainian clean with uppercuts when he found his range and timing.
In an interview published on his YouTube channel, Usyk described ‘seeing birds’ when he was taking those shots.
“The uppercut, it hurt, it hurt a lot. you all watch cartoons, remember there some cartoon character has something in his head, birds are flying, well, that’s really it birds are flying yes some storks were flying near me.”
Since the fight the Brit has claimed he was finding the fight ‘too easy’ and his lack of concentration cost him the victory.
“It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be; a lot easier. People were saying he was a hard man to hit; I was lighting him up with three-and-four-punch combinations – laughing at him. My problem in that fight, I was having too much fun; it was probably too easy – at times, it was too easy. It was like I was in there with a local amateur boxer; I was enjoying it too much and messing around with him.”
The two will do it all again when the rematch takes place on December 21 in Saudi Arabia.
