After losing a heavyweight title fight to Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury was upbeat about the slugfest, and even insisted he was the winner.
“First of all I want to thank my load and savior Jesus Christ for this fantastic fight with Oleksandr,” Fury said from the ring after the fight ended according to a video uploaded to X.
“I believe I won that fight. I believe he won a few of the rounds, but I won the majority of them. And I believe it was – what can you do? – one of them decisions in boxing,” Fury said,
“We’ve both put on a good fight. Best we could do. And, you know, his country’s at war. So people are siding with a country at war. But make no mistake, I’ve won that fight in my opinion, and I’ll be back. We’ve got a rematch clause,” he said.
Tyson Fury delivers his first thoughts 🎤👀 pic.twitter.com/c0TByKB7ix
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) May 18, 2024
“You know, I thank Jesus for all the victories he’s given me. I’ve dropped a split decision to the good little man, and I thank him again in the mighty name of Jesus. We go back home to our families and we’ll run it back in October,” he said.
Usyk later offered similar praise to Jesus.
“Thank you so much, my God, Jesus,” he said,
“Mister Excellency, thank you. It’s big opportunity for me, for my family, for my country. It’s a great day for me and a great day for my country, Slava Ukraine,” he said, according to the U.K.’s Telegraph.
One judge scored the fight 114-113 for Fury. the other two judges scored it 114-113 and 115-112 for Usyk, according to ESPN.
The defeat was Fury’s first pro boxing loss.
“It’s [a] big opportunity for me, for my family, for my country, for history. It’s [a] great day,” Usyk said.
Usyk’s split decision win unified all four heavyweight belts to make him the undisputed champion, according to Bleacher Report.
Usyk came out strong, until Fury began to stage a comeback in Round 3 that continued through the middle rounds of the fight.
Usyk then started taking control of the fight in Round 7. In Round 8, a combination left Fury bleeding.
HOW did Tyson Fury survive this from Oleksandr Usyk 🤯 pic.twitter.com/49IbID0yNl
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) May 18, 2024
TYSON FURY SAVED BY THE BELL 😱😬 pic.twitter.com/vVaRj67pT0
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 18, 2024
One round later, Fury was waddling on the ropes after a right-left combination and was given a standing eight count.
Queensberry Promotions founder and Fury’s promoter Frank Warren noted before the contracted rematch could be held on October.
Per ESPN, Usyk’s victory makes him the first undisputed heavyweight champion in boxing since 1999. Usyk already held the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight championships going into the fight, and acquired Fury’s WBC title Saturday night.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.