PROMOTER Frank Warren says Tyson Fury was giving Oleksandr Usyk a “boxing lesson” prior to his fighter suffering a bloody nose during their heavyweight encounter on Saturday night.
As the ‘Gypsy King’ got off his stool for the ninth round – one of the most dramatic rounds in recent heavyweight history – blood poured out his nose which affected him from there on in.
The ninth will be remembered for Fury being all at sea while under a sustained attack from Usyk which threatened to end the fight until referee Mark Nelson saved Fury by giving him a standing eight count.
After eight rounds judge Manuel Oliver Palimo had scored four for Fury while judges Craig Metcalfe and Mike Fitzgerlad gave five to the Brit.
“It was a fantastic fight, it was a spectacle. Two undefeated fighters who gave everything they could,” said Warren who co-promotes Fury alongside Bob Arum.
“Tyson obviously had a problem with his nose, which I think he just lost his concentration for a moment. Up till then, it was like he was giving him [Usyk] a boxing lesson.
“I thought he broke his nose to start with. Because he kept touching it, didn’t he? And he was struggling to breathe.
“But Oleksandr, warrior that he is, came back into it and he had that big round. And that was it. But I thought Tyson [won], I generally agreed with the judge [Craig Metcalfe] to give it to Tyson.”
With a 10-8 in the bag Usyk pressed home his advantage and continued to put Fury under enormous pressure but the former WBC champion rallied impressively in the final round which all three judges awarded to him. But despite his efforts Usyk was crowned the undisputed heavyweight champion.
“I know everybody would say, well you would say that but I did feel he [Fury] won it,” Warren said. “But we’re not complaining about it because a lot of people have seen it different ways. But what a fantastic fight. It was a brilliant night in the Kingdom. And it’s something that people will remember.”