After classic heavyweight battle, Fury and Usyk let their guard down

Both show emotional side in aftermath of historic undisputed title fight

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The face of Tyson Fury, the deposed lineal and WBC heavyweight champion and a loser for the first time, was marked and bruised when he arrived at his post-fight news conference in the wee hours of Sunday morning at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

And when Oleksandr Usyk, who had retained his three titles and taken Fury’s to become the undisputed champion at the conclusion of their historic clash, arrived for his post-fight session he had fresh stitches sewn into the damaged and cut skin above his right eye and also showed signs of bruising on his face.

Former champion and reigning champion were wearing the battle wounds of their classic summit meeting for all the heavyweight marbles that resulted in Usyk being crowned the division’s first-ever four-belt undisputed champion and the first undisputed champion in the division in the 25 years since Lennox Lewis outpointed fellow legend Evander Holyfield — both of whom were ringside — in their November 1999 rematch.

This was a moment for boxing fans and an industry as a whole to celebrate and savor: A mega fight that lived up to the hype and ended with reasonable split decision scoring from the judges — 115-112 and 114-113 for Usyk and 114-113 for Fury — that didn’t leave anyone screaming about incompetence or worse, corruption.

Instead, Fury and Usyk had met the moment with a memorable fight that was good enough and close enough to warrant a sequel even if the contract hadn’t contained an automatic rematch, which is penciled in for Oct. 12, shaky as that date five months from now may seem.

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Usyk trailed on two scorecards after seven rounds and was even on the third before storming back in the second half of the fight, including knocking Fury down and nearly out in the ninth round for the extra point that was the difference in his win and a split draw.

Referee Mark Nelson would have been well within his rights to stop it given how much punishment the Bambi-legged Fury was taking late in the ninth round but he instead called a knockdown and issued the mandatory eight-count because the ropes had held a dazed Fury up.

While Fury and Usyk are certainly aware of their rematch obligation — and the many tens of millions of dollars that will go along with it — neither fully committed to October, although it was understandable that neither was interested in talking about the next fight about an hour after being in a pitched battle that followed a long buildup and multiple training camps.

Remember, the fight was initially supposed to be in December but postponed until February after Fury got knocked around, dropped and cut in a disputed split decision win against former UFC champion Francis Ngannou, who was making his pro boxing debut, and then was postponed again until Saturday when Fury suffered a deep cut over his eye in sparring session.

“I’m pretty busted up,” Fury said. “We punched the fuck out of each for 12 rounds, so we’re gonna go home, eat some food, drink a few beers, spend some family time, walk my dog, and me and (co-promoter) Frank (Warren) will talk about what’s gonna happen in the future.”

But Fury, who turns 36 in August, also turned a bit philosophical about his career, which is clearly in its twilight after some grueling bouts.

“We’re not young kids anymore,” Fury said, also referencing that Usyk, who had a long amateur career, is 37. “We’re at the end of our careers and we put on a brilliant fight, so I’m proud of myself. In that ninth round I was hit and I was hurt and I rallied on back. That’s what the GK (‘Gypsy King’) does.”

“I don’t need the money,” continued Fury, who made an estimated $100 million for the bout. “I do it because I love the sport. I have done it since I was a child. Where does it all end? Do I have 100 fights and get brain damage and end up in a wheelchair? I’m not sure. But one thing is for sure. While I’m still loving the game, I will continue to do it and I was having fun in there.”

Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) said he thought he did enough to win but did not complain strenuously, and Warren suggested that Fury’s immediate in-ring comments that the judges who scored for Usyk did so because his home country of Ukraine was at war with Russia and they felt sorry for him be chalked up to the emotion of the moment.

“We put on a good fight for the fans,” Fury said. “I always say it’s about getting paid and getting laid and we did that tonight. I thank Oleksandr for the good fight. It was a close fight, you know. I thought I did enough but I’m not a judge. I can’t judge a fight while I’m boxing it.

“If they would have said to me in the last round you’re down, go out and try and finish him, I would have done that but everyone in the corner believed we were up. I just had to keep boxing and doing what I was doing. It was what it was. I’m not gonna cry over spilled milk. I’ve had plenty of victories and given God the glory. I’ve had this one loss in a close fight with a good man like Usyk and it was what it was. I tried my best in there.

“I was having a lot of fun, actually. I was playing around, my hands behind my back. I was enjoying it. He’s a good fighter, Oleksandr. I was catching him and he was catching me and it was a good fight. First six rounds maybe he nicked one of the rounds and going forward I believe I won a few of the last rounds as well. Say I won five of the first six and the next six I won a few as well so it was close. I don’t know. I come up short.

Fury said he would not second-guess himself or his strategy.

“One of the judges had me winning and the other two didn’t so I can’t complain about it,” he said. “In my mind I’m very happy. I did the best I could and I thought I won. I’m happy with the performance. Both men got paid and both men are going home to their lovely wife and children. That’s what it’s about. I don’t think I could have done any better.”

When it was Usyk’s turn to address the media, he did not dwell on the action of the bout other than to say he believed he was the rightful winner and that he was not at all concerned that Nelson had not stopped the bout during his ninth-round onslaught.

“I didn’t worry (about the scorecards). I don’t know why,” Usyk said in broken English. “I believed that I won. I don’t think about (if Nelson denied me a knockout) because we had a win. Maybe. I don’t think about it, because we have a win. OK, no knockout, no problem. The 12th round was a big drama.”

Instead, Usyk spent much of his time talking about his late father, at one point breaking down in tears about his absence and what he meant to him.

“I miss my father,” Usyk said. “I said to my father, ‘Listen, you live there (in heaven); I live here. I love you.’”

When he was more composed, Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) didn’t object to the rematch but he was in no mood to discuss it in any detail. He was physically tired and very obviously mentally drained from a tough fight, the back-to-back training camps and long buildup.

“I don’t think about boxing now,” Usyk said. “Nine months, I worked. I missed Happy New Year. I missed birthday of my son. I missed birthday of (my other) son, too. I missed the birthday of my daughter. I missed birth of my daughter. I missed all of my family holidays. All the time, I was training, training, training. My focus was only this fight.

"Now, I’m happy. I want to go home, go to my church, pray. I want to say, ‘Jesus, thank you,’ because for me and my country, it was a big opportunity. I thank my team — Team Usyk. Thank you so much. I love you. We won. We did it.”

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Photos: Mikey Williams/Top Rank and Queensberry Promotions

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