Former world champion David Haye believes Oleksandr Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) deserved his 12-round split decision win over Tyson Fury on Saturday night in their undisputed heavyweight championship in Riyadh.
Fury’s “Stealing Rounds” Strategy Backfires
Haye feels that WBC champion Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) was trying to “steal rounds” by doing just enough rather than trying to dominate IBF/WBA/WBO champ Usyk.
It looked like Fury wasn’t trying to put in the effort to win rounds conclusively, and one reason for that was his lack of hand speed. The southpaw Usyk was faster and was loading up with left hands.
Refereeing Blunder in the Ninth Round
Haye thinks the referee should have stopped the fight in the ninth round when Fury was out on his feet and getting hammered by Usyk. The referee stopped the action to give Fury a count and gave him 20 seconds to recover.
The judges’ scores were 117-112, 116-112 for Usyk, and 115-113 for Fury.
“The right guy won, it was really nice to see. I was really happy with it,” said David Haye to the media, reacting to Oleksandr Usyk’s win over Tyson Fury on Saturday night.
“I thought it should have been a stoppage. I thought either let him finish punching, but to jump in and stop the action and give him a count, and then give him 20 seconds. I thought that was terrible.
“Some of the worst refereeing in such an important fight,” said Haye about the referee stopping the action in the ninth round to give Fury a count after he was hurt by Usyk.
“Could you imagine if one of the judges had it the other way and Usyk would have lost after having Tyson Fury fully out on his feet and he didn’t fall over?
“Throw more punches, throw more quality punches. Throw more power shots, body shots, headshots,” said Haye on what Fury should have done to get the victory tonight. “He was trying to steal the rounds. He wasn’t trying to dominate the rounds.
Usyk: The Best of His Generation
“100%,” said Haye when asked if Usyk has proven that he’s the best heavyweight of this generation. “He’s done everything humanely possible in such a short amount of fights. He’s an undisputed heavyweight, undisputed cruiserweight, and Olympic champion.
“There’s nothing more he could have done, and he’s fought quality fighters, all very good fighters, the best of the era. He beat Fury and AJ. What more can he do?” said Haye about Usyk.
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