Oleksandr Usyk beats Tyson Fury again as long-awaited rematch goes the distance

CNN
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Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury in their long-awaited rematch to defend his combined world heavyweight titles in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday.

The pair first fought in May this year, with Usyk winning via split decision.

This was the first loss of Fury’s career and the British boxer immediately called for a rematch, setting the wheels in motion for a repeat of the heavyweight clash.

Fury was criticized for his approach during the first fight and looked much improved during the rematch at the Kingdom Arena.

“The Gypsy King” made more use of his height advantage as he tried to keep the smaller, faster Usyk at bay.

But as seen throughout 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 the AP.

As the fight drew to a close, Fury attempted to land a decisive blow to end the fight, but Usyk thwarted the 36-year-old’s efforts.

The Ukrainian won the fight 116-112 on all three judges’ scorecards – much to the displeasure of the Fury camp.

“I was pretty confident, I fought, I won that fight again,” Fury told reporters after losing the second fight of his career.

“I thought I had won both games, 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’ll always believe until the day I die, I’ve won that battle.”

Fury admitted this can happen in the world of boxing and that he’s not “going to cry over spilled milk”, but the former heavyweight champion insisted he felt hard done by.

Fury, who entered the ring to Mariah Carey’s smash hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You” and dressed as 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 present from the judges. Christmas present early.”

When asked if Usyk was the best boxer he had faced, Fury was also defiant in his answer.

“Not really to be fair. In that fight he never hurt me,” Fury said.

Frank Warren, Fury’s promoter, was equally surprised by the decision.

“I’m amazed how that score can be, it’s terrible,” 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 kids.”