THERE was no revenge for Tyson Fury. He again fell to Oleksandr Usyk, losing their heavyweight boxing rematch Saturday by unanimous decision after suffering a split-decision defeat in their first fight seven months ago.
All three judges scored the fight 116-112 in Oleksandr Usyk’s favour in Riyadh, retaining his WBC, WBA and WBO world heavyweight titles.
Usyk again demonstrated his superior technical skill and responded each time Fury went on the attack in their 12-round heavyweight fight at the Kingdom. Usyk proved far more accurate with his punches, landing 42% (179-of-423) compared to Fury’s 28% (144-of-509), according to DAZN.
All three judges scored it 116-112 for Usyk, who retained his WBC, WBA and WBO world heavyweight titles.
The British fighter Fury, 36, had hoped to take revenge after his previous defeat to Usyk in May.
The Ukrainian, 37, had entered the bout as a narrow favourite.
“I swear to God, I thought I won it by at least three rounds,” Fury said shortly after the fight.
“I felt a little Christmas spirit in there and I think he got a little Christmas gift from them, judges. An early Christmas gift.
“I was confident I had won that fight again. I thought I’d won both fights, but then again, I’ve gone home with two losses on my record. I will always believe until the day I die that I won that fight.
“I’m not going to cry over spilt milk. It’s happened now.”
Fury left the ring without doing an interview, leaving his promoter, Frank Warren, to speak on his behalf.
“How can Tyson only get four rounds in this fight? It’s impossible,” Warren told TV network DAZN, adding he thought Fury had won.
“Only four rounds. Each of them gave him four rounds, four different rounds. I’m not saying this because I’m biased, but everyone along the front there thought it went the same way.
“It’s nuts. It’s nuts, I don’t get it. I’m really disappointed with that. I thought he was in control of the fight and boxed extremely well. Usyk was on the back foot for most of the fight, but it is what it is.”
Usyk became the only man to inflict a professional defeat on Fury when he beat him on points in May, becoming the first boxer to hold all four major heavyweight belts at the same time and the first undisputed champion in 24 years.
But his reign over the four belts ended just a month later when he gave up his IBF belt to fight Fury in a rematch because he was unable to make a mandatory defence against the organisation’s interim belt-holder, Daniel Dubois.
“I win,” Usyk said simply after the fight, “it’s good”.
He also paid tribute to Fury.
“He’s a great fighter, a great opponent and it was a great 24 rounds. Unbelievable 24 rounds in my career. Thank you so much,” Usyk said.
Daniel Dubois, the IBF heavyweight title holder, was quick to call for a fight with Usyk following the result.
“I want my revenge,” he told Usyk directly. “Let’s go.”
Dubois, 27, defended the IBF belt with a fifth-round knockout of fellow British rival, 34-year-old Anthony Joshua, in October.
He faces Joseph Parker on 22 February and the Usyk win could set up a future fight to unify all of the titles.
Ahead of the bout, Usyk and Fury engaged in a stare-down for more than 11 minutes in a head-to-head press conference on Thursday.
Eighteen-Eleven Media