Oleksandr Usyk became the undisputed heavyweight champion by defeating Tyson Fury in a thrilling fight on Saturday night.
The 37-year-old wobbled badly and dropped Fury in the ninth round before securing a split decision victory at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
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Since then, the official scorecards have been revealed, with judge Manuel Oliver Palomo scoring it 115-112 in favor of Usyk and Mike Fitzgerald giving him the fight 114-113.
Craig Metcalfe was the dissenting judge who fought 114-113 for Fury, but his controversial card couldn’t stop Usyk from becoming the WBO, WBA, WBC and IBF heavyweight champion.
Many boxing fans thought the Ukrainian was the clear winner and expressed frustration with Metcalfe, who is from Canada, for almost spoiling the event.
One person tweeted: “Metcalfe is a disgrace. Horrible card.
Another said: “A JUDGE SAID FURY WON, WTF?
Someone else wrote: “The judge needs glasses immediately.”
A fourth person commented: “It was almost another parody of the sport. The Canadian judge should be sent back to Canada to officiate ice hockey or something.
Discussions will quickly move from the scorecards to a potential rematch between the two best heavyweights on the planet.
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Fury challenged the decision immediately after his first career loss and insisted it would trigger the rematch clause in his contract.
“I think I won this fight. I think he won a few rounds, but I won the majority of them,” he said in the ring after falling to 34-1-1 as a professional boxer.
“What can you do? It’s one of the decisions in boxing. We both put up a good fight. The best we can do…
“I’ll come back, I have a rematch clause. We’re going back. Get some rest, spend some time with my family and we’ll go back in October.”
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Usyk didn’t want to talk about fighting after becoming the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999.
Family was at the forefront of his mind as he became emotional while speaking about his late father during a post-fight press conference.
Usyk said: “I’m not thinking about boxing now, please.”
“My camp started in September 2023, I worked nine months.
“I missed Happy New Year, I missed my son’s birthday, I missed my other son’s birthday, I missed my daughter’s birthday and then the birth of my daughter.
“I also missed family vacations. I was only focused on this fight, now I’m happy and I want to go home.”
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