‘I won that fight’: Tyson Fury rejects defeat as judges’ ‘Christmas gift’ to Oleksandr Usyk
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Tyson Fury described Oleksandr Usyk’s victory over him as a “Christmas gift” from the three judges who all scored the fight 116-112 in favour of the champion. The verdict was justifiably much more clear-cut than the split-decision ruling which had also given Usyk victory in May.
![[The victorious Oleksandr Usyk praised Tyson Fury as “a great fighter” after the bout in Riyadh]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/b0a712559ef35c6a70f1c8a7420a6ed7e045694a/0_0_5440_3263/master/5440.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
But Fury offered his contrasting belief at the post-fight press conference: “I thought I won that fight. I thought I won both fights but I’m going home with two losses on my record. There’s not much I can do about it. I can just fight my heart out.
“I will believe til the day I die that I won that fight. I was aggressive, on the front foot all night, landing to the body and head. Frank Warren [his promoter] had me three or four rounds up. A lot of people had me at least two rounds up. But I’m not going to cry over spilled milk. I can’t change the decision. When you don’t get the KO this is what happens: you can’t guarantee a win.”.
Asked by a Ukrainian journalist if he agreed that Usyk was inspired by the defiant spirit of his war-torn country, Fury said dolefully: “I didn’t feel no spirit. I felt a bit of Christmas spirit in there and think he got a Christmas gift from those judges.”.
Fury was told that even the experimental use of Artificial Intelligence had gone against him. The AI “judge” recorded a score of 118-112 to Usyk. Fury responded amusingly when he considered his view of AI. “By the review of that, absolutely shit,” he said. “Fuck all the computers, keep the humans going. More jobs for humans, less jobs for computers. Fuck electric cars too, while we’re at it.”.
