by Mick the Ram

The much anticipated heavyweight clash between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury once again ended in a points victory for the unbeaten Ukrainian.

The fight – worth an estimated $200m – took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with a close contest expected and the two fighters did not disappoint.

Having inflicted a first career defeat on the Briton by split decision in back in May, Usyk once again did enough to convince the three judges that he had done enough to retain his WBA (Super), WBC and WBO titles.

The result was not however without controversy, with pundits and ex-boxers questioning the scorecards and many believing that Fury had in actual fact done enough to win.

Festive spirit

The Gypsy King (as Fury is commonly known) came into the ring dressed as Santa and to the festive sound of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You”.

He even had the beard, not the white variety, but his own growth which had caused a complaint from the Usyk camp before hand who felt it gave him an unfair advantage.

Nevertheless, it was cleared as legal and Fury felt he had gained the upper hand in upsetting the opposition.

Here to do a job

Usyk for his part, looked far more serious, marching purposefully into the ring, wearing a warrior-like robe, before crouching in the corner to recite a prayer.

The two men had an astonishing 11-minute face-off pre-fight, and they picked up where they left off, with eyes fixed on each other as they met in the centre of the ring.

Early success for Fury

Neither boxer over-committed in a cagey opening round in which it was clear that Fury had his serious fighting head on, as he used his extra six inches in height, eight inches in reach and four stone in weight to keep his opponent at range.

The Brit was looking comfortable without dominating early on, but he did rattle the champion in the closing seconds of the second.

Beginning to find control

However as the fight progressed, so too did Usyk, finding success with blows to the body and a couple of left hooks in the fourth found their target.

By the sixth Fury was beginning to drop his pace as Usyk started to look more and more untroubled.

Turning up the heat

It was hard to call as the fight moved to the ninth, the round in which Usyk got on top in their first meeting, but it seemed that the Englishman actually pinched that round, so going into the final 3 rounds it appeared to be anybody’s fight.

In the eleventh Usyk landed a fabulous combination that definitely hurt Fury and the Ukrainian sensed victory. He applied more and more pressure, both towards the end of that round and again in the 12th.

Surprise at margin of victory

It appeared to be a close decision, but when the announcement came most in the crowd were a little surprised how all three judges – USA’s Patrick Morley, Panama’s Ignacio Robles and Puerto Rico’s Gerardo Martinez – had scored the contest 116-112 to Usyk.

Despite coming to the same conclusion, they actually had reached it in different ways. They were unanimous on rounds four, five, six, seven, eight, ten and eleven, but split for the other round, although every round was scored 10-9 to the winner.

Usyk was able to take his undefeated record to 23 professional wins and said afterwards: “He is a great fighter, he is a great opponent and has given me an unbelievable 24 rounds for my career; thank you so much.”

Shocked Fury left ring immediately

A stunned Fury and his promoter Frank Warren were both convinced that the Briton had done enough to win the fight, and clearly frustrated and bitterly disappointed, he left the ring without conducting an interview.

Backstage, and having regained a little composure, Fury stated that in his opinion he had won the contest by “at least three rounds”.

He claimed that the judges had given Usyk a “Christmas gift”. He added: “I feel like I won both fights; although I know I had to knock him out but it’s boxing and this happens.”

Refusing to accept result

Fury continued to say that he had spoken with promoter Frank Warren who had him three or four rounds up, and most others were in agreement he said.

Becoming slightly more philosophical, Fury remarked; “I’m not going to cry over spilled milk, it’s over now,” but with one last dig at the scoring he again made the pointy that he felt he had won saying: “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.”