British heavyweight Tyson Fury said the judges made a mistake in awarding a unanimous decision win to Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine in their clash for the WBA (Super), WBO and WBC titles at the Kingdom Arena in Saudi Arabia, claiming he should have won.
Fury fell on Sunday to the second defeat of his professional career, both of which have come against Usyk, as he missed the chance to win the belts despite a much better performance in a rematch of their May bout, which he lost by split decision.
“I was quite confident. I thought I won that fight again... I thought I’ve won both fights. But then again, I’ve gone home with two losses on my record now, so there’s not much I can do about it,” Fury told a press conference.
“I can just fight my heart out and do the best I can, but again, I’ll always believe until a day I die, I won that fight.”
Fury said he had been on the front foot all night, but in truth Usyk, who gave up big advantages in terms of height, weight and reach, was the more dominant fighter for the majority of the contest as he scored another decision win.
“It is what it is. I’m not going to cry over spilled milk, it’s happened now. I know boxing, I’ve been in it all my life. You can’t change no decisions, but I’ll just always feel a little bit hard done-by. Not a little bit actually - a lot,” Fury said.
Giving up advantages in height, weight and reach to his much bigger opponent, Usyk fought superbly throughout to win 116-112 on all three judges’ scorecards as he again defeated Fury after his success in May made him the undisputed champion.
Fury, 36, was much-improved from that first encounter where he wilted in the ninth round but could still not solve the puzzle posed by the 37-year-old Usyk, whose superb movement saw him force the Briton onto the back foot for much of the bout.