CNN
—
Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury in their hotly anticipated rematch to defend his unified heavyweight world titles in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday.
The pair first fought in May of this year with Usyk taking the win via split decision.
This was the first loss of Fury’s career and the British boxer instantly called for a rematch, setting the wheels in motion for a repeat of the box-office heavyweight clash.
Fury was criticized for his approach during the first fight and looked much improved during the rematch at Kingdom Arena.
“The Gypsy King” made more of his height advantage as he attempted to keep the smaller, faster Usyk at bay.
But as seen through much of his career, when Usyk’s opponents tire, the Ukrainian seemingly grows in strength.
He asserted control of the fight in the later rounds and as Fury began to run out of steam, Usyk capitalized on his advantage. Overall, Usyk landed 179 of 423 punches thrown (42%), a much higher percentage than Fury who landed 144 of his 509 punches thrown (28%), according to AP.
As the fight neared its conclusion, Fury tried to land a decisive blow to end the bout, but Usyk thwarted the 36-year-old’s efforts.
The Ukrainian won the fight 116-112 on all three of the judges’ scorecards – much to the displeasure of the Fury camp.
“I was quite confident, I fought I won that fight again,” Fury told reporters after losing the second fight of his career.
“I thought I’d won the 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 … I will always believe until the day I die, I’ve won that fight.”
Fury admitted that this can happen in the world of boxing and that he was not “going to cry over spilled milk,” but the former heavyweight champion maintained he felt hard done by.
Fury, who entered the ring to Mariah Carey’s smash Christmas hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You” and dressed like Santa Claus, said the win must have been an early Christmas present for Usyk.
“I felt a little bit of Christmas spirit in there and I think he got a little Christmas gift from them judges. Christmas gift early.”
When asked if Usyk was the best boxer he’d faced, Fury was also defiant in his response.
“Not really to be fair. In that fight there, he never hurt me once,” Fury said.
Frank Warren, Fury’s promoter, was equally as surprised by the decision.
“I’m dumbfounded at how that scoring can be, it’s dreadful,” Warren told reporters.
Usyk responded by calling Warren a “crazy man,” after saying he must also be blind.
He added that he “wanted to rest” now, turn off his phone, “not think about boxing … and just play with my children.”
