Oleksandr Usyk emerged victorious over Tyson Fury from their rematch to make it two wins in succession against the Gypsy King – but Anthony Joshua’s scorecard of the bout has drawn criticism from fans.
Usyk took on Fury for the second time this year as the pair returned to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to resume their rivalry.
The first heavyweight boxing bout between the two took place in May and saw Usyk emerge victorious via a split decision, with two judges scoring him higher and one finding in Fury’s favour on that occasion.
On Saturday night for the rematch, Usyk won again, but this time it was a unanimous judges’ decision with all three finding in his favour.
All three judges scored the fight 116 to 112 in Usyk’s favour, a decision which Fury himself disagreed with and labelled the call as a ‘Christmas gift’ for his opponent.
He said: “The judges gave him a Christmas gift. I feel like I won both fights.
“I know I had to knock him out but it’s boxing and this happens. There is no doubt in my mind I won this fight.
“Frank [Warren] had me three or four rounds up and a lot of people had me up by at least two.
“I’m not going to cry over spilled milk, it’s over now.
Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury for the second time. (Image: Getty)
“I’ve been in boxing my whole life but I’ll always feel a little bit hard done by – not a little bit, a lot.”
Usyk remains unbeaten in his 23 fights, while Fury’s record now stands at 34 wins, one draw and two losses.
British fighter Joshua, who was scoring the fight for streaming service DAZN, had his say on the fight and scored the bout 115-114 in favour of Usyk, which is closer than the scores of the three judges.
Taking to social media on Saturday night, AJ gave a one-word reaction to Usyk’s win. He wrote the word “respect” on his Instagram story alongside the Ukraine flag.
But fans on social media were not exactly convinced by AJ’s score of the fight and many had their say.
One fan said: “Who asked for a Anthony Joshua scorecard.”
Another said: “Joshua’s scorecard is mad, round 4 is the only score I agree with.”
One posted: “Anthony Joshua scored it 115-114? That doesn’t make mathematical sense.”
Another said: “Joshua’s scorecard shows he hasn’t fully recovered from the Dubois fight.”
And another wrote: “Joshua’s scorecard didn’t make sense the whole way through.”