It’s a little puzzling to see pockets of pushback about this decision for Usyk over Fury, especially among Fury’s fans in the UK.
Considering how close some of the rounds were, it’s a bit remarkable that all three judges scored the fight similarly, at 116-112. But with each judge scoring each round individually the overall consensus shows just how strong Usyk’s showing really was.
Fury expressing disappointment after the bout is no surprise. That’s what fighters do when they lose. They advocate for themselves.
The promoter Eddie Hearn said he had the fight a draw going into the last round and that it was difficult to pick a winner. Oscar De La Hoya showed support for Fury midfight. But that seems like wishful thinking from people who generally have a vested interest in building up future fights.
When I score bouts, I mark rounds that I think are reasonably close enough for judges to go either way. Seven of the rounds made that cut for me. But it’s far tougher to see a path where Fury took enough of those to turn around the fight.
Just one opinion, but mine is that we don’t need a third fight and that Usyk has shown himself to be the clearly better boxer in this rivalry.