The official scorecards have been released after Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury for the second time in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.
The heavyweight pair went toe-to-toe seven months after their first fight, which Usyk won via split decision to become the undisputed champion of the blue boxing division.
It was another exciting fight with both men having moments of success, but the judges felt there was a clear winner after twelve rounds as they all scored the fight 116-112 for Usyk.
And now it has been revealed how they came to that conclusion.
It turns out that Fury won on all three cards after five rounds, with two judges scoring it 3-2 in his favor while the other had him ahead 4-1.
But they all agreed that Usyk turned the tide in the second half of the match. One judge, Patrick Morley, gave the Ukrainian each of the final seven rounds, while Gerardo Martinez felt Usyk won rounds six to eleven before giving the nod to Fury in the twelfth.
Oleksandr Usyk had his hand raised after beating Tyson Fury on points on Saturday night
Tyson Fury was not happy with the decision and promptly stormed out of the ring
His promoter, Frank Warren, was also angry, claiming it was ‘impossible’ to score the fight so widely in Usyk’s favor, and the official scorecards have now been released.
Ignacio Robles, who was only appointed as the third judge for Saturday night’s main event after a coin toss earlier in the day, also gave Usyk six of the final seven rounds.
Interestingly, he scored the ninth round, which went so badly wrong for Fury in May, in favor of the Gypsy King.
The judges all agreed on the end result, but some observers felt Fury had been harshly treated after pushing Usyk to his limits.
The man himself certainly felt that way as he stormed out of the ring after the decision was announced, claiming backstage that he felt like he had “won by at least seven rounds.”
His promoter, Frank Warren, was equally perplexed.
“How can Tyson only get four rounds in this fight?” Warren raged in the ring.
‘It’s impossible. He got four rounds, everyone gave him four rounds, all different rounds.”
‘He is very disappointed, just like me. But I mean, I’m not saying there’s bias [but] everyone along the front there, we all thought the same.’
Warren made his frustration clear in the ring after the final bell in Riyadh
‘Nuts. I don’t understand. I’m really, really disappointed about that.’
Warren was also disgusted that Fury had not received any credit for his work in the second half of that fight.
After hearing that Usyk had dominated the closing rounds on the scorecards, Warren continued, “How is that possible? That’s impossible. And the same goes for the other judge here, you give him one round in the final six, and the same here for this guy.
‘It’s crazy. And I am calm and collected. I don’t yell or scream. That’s nonsense.’
But despite Fury and Warren’s protests, the men who mattered joined Usyk for another night of drama.