“It looked really bad” – David Haye makes bold claim after Oleksandr Usyk denies Tyson Fury a knockout chance

David Haye believes Tyson Fury was lucky to see the final bell against Oleksandr Usyk.

Usyk and Fury met in a bid to make history and become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999, and it was the Ukrainian who snatched the belts with a split decision victory.

“The Cat” took the decision on the judges’ scorecards, but came very close to stopping Fury in the ninth after shaking him into the ropes, allowing the “Gypsy King” to count on his feet.

Having managed to bite through his dental shield and survive until the end of the stanza, Usyk narrowly missed his opportunity to close the show.

Following the conclusion of the grueling fight, British boxing icon Haye claimed the fight would have been stopped if Fury had inflicted the damage on the champion-elect.

He said on the TNT Sports show: “If Fury had done that to Usyk, it would have been stopped. The referee stopped him and his opportunity.

“Then gave him 20 seconds to fully recover. It looked really bad at ringside. Even Fury fans said: “Thank you, referee. »

Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk echoed Haye’s sentiments, insisting he believed Fury should not have made it to the tenth round.

He said: “I’m exhausted, of course I was supporting Usyk the whole fight.

“No disrespect to the ref but I think he stopped a knockout in the ninth but regardless it was a tremendous performance.

“It was amazing and I hope to see more in the rematch.”

Fury looked like a shadow of his former self and was battered in the stanza, with referee Mark Nelson certainly taking a close look at him.

The British heavyweight was only held up by the ropes and looked visibly dazed as he returned to his stool.

Even though the time wasn’t right for a defeated Usyk, he still made history and etched his name in the record books alongside Lennox Lewis, who last became undisputed champion a year ago. At 25 years.

He shouldn’t regret the opportunity that was taken away from him, but he hopes he can win the distance in their rematch scheduled for October.

The referee was in the spotlight, as were the judges in Fury’s camp, with the former WBC champion suggesting he had done enough to win the fight.

“It was a close fight,” he said. “I think, I thought I had done enough but, you know, I’m not a judge.

“I can’t judge a fight while I’m boxing it. If they had said I was in the last round or anything, ‘you’re down,’ I would have gone out and tried to beat him. finish. I would have done it.

“But everyone around here thought we were up.”