‘Tyson Fury changed his tune!’: Fans spot stark difference between pre- and post-fight interviews for the Gypsy King as he tries to duck a December 23 clash with Oleksandr Usyk after scare from Francis Ngannou

Boxing fans believe Tyson Fury will be much more reluctant to fight Oleksandr Usyk after narrowly avoiding defeat to Francis Ngannou.

The Gypsy King controversially defeated the former MMA star via split decision in Riyadh on Saturday evening to maintain his undefeated record.

The verdict was widely shared within the boxing world and beyond, especially when Ngannou, making his professional boxing debut, knocked down Fury in the third round.

The WBC heavyweight champion survived the count to earn a narrow victory, which has cast doubt on his upcoming undisputed fight against Usyk in Saudi Arabia in two months’ time.

Fury did little to dispel doubts that the December 23 fight may be postponed.

“We will stage the biggest fight of our generation,” he said on Sunday.

The former MMA star defeated Fury in the third round of his first professional boxing match

Fury will fight Oleksandr Usyk (right) on December 23 in Saudi Arabia.

‘The fight of the century for the undisputed (heavyweight) championships of the world. See you all sometime next year.

“Merry Christmas if I don’t see you and Happy New Year.”

His comments were in stark contrast to his pre-fight comments where he was adamant that the uncontested fight with Usyk would take place in December.

“Usyk has to fight in December,” he told Sky Sports optimistically.

‘He has no choice. He signed the contract, so if he doesn’t fight, he’s breached the contract and will be sued.”

The two interviews were posted side by side on social media, where boxing fans noted that the Gypsy King had drastically changed his tune after his narrow escape against Ngannou.

“As usual, Fury isn’t fighting. Didn’t fight Aj, Usyk, Joyce, Parker, Zhang, Povetkin or Ruiz, to name a few,” one fan wrote.

Several others suggested Fury could retire.

A TikTok account juxtaposed Fury’s pre- and post-fight interview against Ngannou, with the Gypsy King’s behavior noticeably different

“This fight is never going to happen. Fury retires with one of the worst CVs in boxing,” said one. Another added: “It won’t happen, I can’t watch Fury fight anymore.”

A third added: “Always avoids big fights, bottler,” while another noted that Fury’s body language had changed dramatically between the two interviews.

Speaking on Sunday, promoter Frank Warren suggested the fight could take place sometime next year.

‘We were going to do it on December 23rd. “I doubt that will happen now,” he said BBC 5Live Boxing podcast,

“Tyson can’t go into camp after such a tough fight. That’s another eight weeks.

‘He needs at least some time to get himself, his body, back into shape. Let it heal. Then go to a camp. It will take place early next year.”

Frank Warren suggested that Fury vs Usyk could take place sometime next year

Fury and Usyk were in talks to fight last year before locking horns in March – with the Ukrainian even agreeing to a 70-30 split of the prize pool – although negotiations over the showdown were later halted.

In September, Fury’s team announced that a deal had finally been struck – with Warren claiming they had only done so to prevent the news from leaking prematurely.

“That was not done on purpose, but just because we had submitted the contracts to the IBF and we knew it would leak, so we thought it would be better if it leaked from us rather than somewhere else,” he said . Mailsport.

“I think (Fury) is a little annoyed by that and I understand that, but it’s done.”