Promoter Eddie Hearn says that Saturday’s rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury scored a “draw,” he feels it was hard to split them with many of the rounds being close. Fans felt Usyk won because there wasn’t much effort from Fury, who looked like the shell of the fighter he’d been four years ago.
I know it hurts for Fury fans and those who hoped he would win to see him get beaten again, but that’s how it is. Tonight’s fight showed that he’s on the level of Usyk, and people are going to have to live with that.
The judges saw it as a clear 12-round unanimous decision for the unbeaten unified heavyweight champion Usyk (23-0, 12 KOs), scoring it 116-112, 116-112 and 116-112. After round five, they had Usyk cruising from six through twelve.
Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs) wasn’t showing enough effort in any of the rounds to say definitely that he won them. Even in the early rounds, which I was Tyson’s best, it was all he could do to throw a small handful. Those rounds close, and if you were going to give them to Fury, you’d have to ignore the work Usyk was doing pushing the fight. He was doing all the work.
Hearn had picked Fury ahead of the fight to win, and it obviously isn’t a good thing that he lost. If the Gyspy King had won, he’d be the unified WBA, WBC, and WBO heavyweight champion, making a fight between him and Hearn’s fighter, Anthony Joshua, much more lucrative. Instead, Fury will be backing into the Joshua contest, coming off a loss, licking his mental wounds with his second consecutive loss.
A “Chess Match”
“I thought it was a draw. I thought it was very difficult to split them. I look at the reaction, and most people have Usyk winning the fight, I guess,” said Eddie Hearn to Boxing King Media, reacting to Tyson Fury’s loss to Oleksandr Usyk tonight in their rematch in Riyadh.
“What I will say is three judges scored it the same, and I like that when that happens because sometimes we see a lot of variation in the scorecards. For me, I thought there were so many close rounds that it was really difficult to split,” said Hearn about tonight’s Usyk vs. Fury 2 fight.
“I thought he concentrated more. I don’t think he [Fury] switched off during the fight. I guess it’s Usyk’s workrate. He threw a lot of punches. I didn’t really think he landed anything major. I think Fury landed a couple of decent shots and some good bodywork. I still think Fury should have done more.”
It wasn’t a draw, that’s for sure. If you were to tune out what Usyk was doing, you could say it was a draw, but then you’d be biased. Looking at it logically, Fury lost and was lucky to win four rounds. Some had it 11-1, and I could see it that way, too. Fury fought like a rich person with one foot in retirement.
“It wasn’t the greatest fight in the world. It was a bit of a chess match,” said Hearn. “Just one fight for Fury, which is AJ, and I don’t think it’s time to be going on it tonight. He’s going to be hurting about that defeat. He’s a great fighter, but for me, it’s the only fight to make.
“I’m not sure Dubois will beat Parker,” said Hearn when asked who Usyk should fight next. “I think they’re going to overlook that fight, and I think they might get beat.”
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