Tyson Fury has an interesting reason behind why he lost to Oleksandr Usyk.
Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) was knocked down late by Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) en route to a split decision loss in their heavyweight boxing match May at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh. Usyk became the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999.
Fury thought he had done enough to win the fight. “The Gypsy King” felt he was comfortably outboxing Usyk before getting floored in Round 9, and went as far as calling Usyk an easy opponent.
“It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be, the Usyk fight – a lot easier,” Fury said on his FUROCITY podcast. “People saying, ‘Oh, he’s a hard man to hit.’ I was lighting him up with three-, four-punch combinations, laughing at him. My problem in that fight, I probably had too much fun. It was probably too easy. At times, it was too easy.
“It was like I was in there with a local amateur boxer, and I was just enjoying it too much, messing around. (I) paid the ultimate price in Round 9 where I got a 10-8 round and got clipped. That’s what happens when you have too much fun. They always tell me, ‘Never mix your work with having fun,’ and I always gave them the middle finger, and it’s come back now to me.”
Fury will get an opportunity to leave no doubt when he runs things back with Usyk Dec. 21 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“I’ve got to get him out of there because I’m not going to get a decision, which is unfortunate because it’s hard enough to win a fight just by winning it, never mind knowing you’ve got to knock someone out,” Fury said. “But I’m confident and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
