Boxing - Oleksandr Usyk v Tyson Fury - Heavyweight World Title - Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - December 22, 2024 Tyson Fury during a press conference after losing his fight against Oleksandr Usyk REUTERS/Andrew Couldridge
RIYADH (Reuters) - British heavyweight Tyson Fury said the judges made a mistake in awarding a unanimous decision win to Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine in their clash for the WBA (Super), WBO and WBC titles at the Kingdom Arena on Saturday night, claiming he should have won.
Fury fell to the second defeat of his professional career, both of which have come against Usyk, as he missed the chance to win the belts despite a much better performance in a rematch of their May bout, which he lost by split decision.
"I was quite confident. I thought I won that fight again... I thought I've won both fights. But then again, I've gone home with two losses on my record now, so there's not much I can do about it," Fury told a press conference.
"I can just fight my heart out and do the best I can, but again, I'll always believe until a day I die, I won that fight."
Fury said he had been on the front foot all night, but in truth Usyk, who gave up big advantages in terms of height, weight and reach, was the more dominant fighter for the majority of the contest as he scored another decision win.
"It is what it is. I'm not going to cry over spilled milk, it's happened now. I know boxing, I've been in it all my life. You can't change no decisions, but I'll just always feel a little bit hard done-by. Not a little bit actually - a lot," Fury said.
The 36-year-old waved away talk of what is next for him after his second straight defeat.
"I'm going to go home and have a good Christmas, I've been away 12 weeks, I put a lot of work in for this fight, I'm going to go home now and enjoy it," he said.
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor; Editing by William Mallard)
