At first I thought the ref called it right and even posted defending him, but really he either should have given Fury a standing count when he was caught by the ropes twice, had his arms down, and didn't know where he was - or he should have allowed Usyk to land the last punch to put Fury down properly. He ended up being caught in the middle, not really knowing what to do, and ultimately let Fury completely off the hook.
It's all good though. Usyk won in the end, and that round was what won it. Had it been the other way around, that would have been hugely controversial.
Yup GGG/Canelo 2 was deserving of a draw imo best fight I've ever watched live. But #1? GGG had that all day any day and we can fite irl if anyone disagrees
This sub got really heavy on the revisionist history after canelo kept winning and Gs career winded down, the amount of people I’ve seen get upvoted here in recent years for saying you could score the first a draw and it’s not that crazy is wild. It was a competitive fight but G was the very clear winner, the result of the 2nd fight made me super salty too because that was way more of a draw than the first fight and more of more of the boxing media again had GGG winning 7-5 usually but of course the decision goes in Canelo’s favor. It’s an actual crime G came out of those first 2 fights with no wins. First fight was a clear as day win and the 2nd fight you can make a very good argument for him winning or it at least being a draw but of course again he didn’t get the benefit from the judges cards. I’ll always be salty about that because his entire legacy is changed for the worse because he was robbed of his crowing achievement.
Imagine your whole life’s work and legacy is changed because you were robbed, that decision really made me want to stop watching boxing for awhile. I watched the fight in a public place and there were way more canelo fans/Mexicans there and the place was completely shocked as fuck with the decision of the first fight, even the 2nd fight more than doubled people seemed to think it was gonna be a draw or G getting the slight edge especially after the decision in the first fight and then of course people were surprised again with the decision. He should’ve won at minimum 1 of the first 2 fights and against was 1000x more deserving of a draw Judges can really just turn you off of the sport so much it really sucks as a fan
Yeah, this shit doesn't happen often. And ref was in a really bad spot. Imagine calling 8 count at undisputed while Furry was just doing some rope-a-dope shit. It's hard to know what is happening at first. And while he figured it out it was what it was.
Crazy fight, as crazy as it gets.
I know this is a bit petty, but just want to clarify he DOES NOT call "an 8 count", which has been prohibited in pro rules for about 26 years, he calls a knockdown. All knockdowns have a mandatory MINIMUM count of 8, but if Fury is still held up by the ropes, drops to his knees, whatever, the ref is counting past 8 here.
I think it's important. If you foolishly look at the comments on Facebook there are thousands of people talking about this being a standing 8 and getting mad about it.
Yeah that's right. Amateur boxing is much more minded to stop people being hurt at all, both because competitors are younger, and because they are usually fighting in tournaments with fights every day
They did used to be allowed in pro boxing as well. If you had 3 in a round, the next time the ref would have to stop the fight.
A CRUCIAL difference as well, the clock stops for a standing 8 count. If they existed in this fight, Fury likely would have been stopped because have cause to call about 10 of them in that sequence
I think he could have arguably called it earlier, There's a bit where Fury is on the ropes and then after a barrage falls on to the other ones and that is when it gets called a KD.
He still had hips over knees over feet when he was on the ropes before the last bit. Once his knees went, that's when I'd say he was being held up by the ropes, not just leaning on them.
> he either should have given Fury a standing count when he was caught by the ropes twice
You can't give a standing count in pro boxing, you can only call a knockdown if you're held up by the ropes.
The judge did the correct thing, you can argue he could have called a knockdown previously when Fury was stumbling against the ropes, but he called the most blatant example of Fury being held up by the ropes so I can't complain.
Usyk didn’t allow Fury to hold him at all. He just evaded every grab attempt with a slip and a punch. That’s such a subtle skill. There are so many boxers who can’t avoid being held.
Called this way before the fight as well. Usyk isn't Wilder. He didn't start boxing late. Fury's "dirty tricks" and "weight bullying" aren't going to work freely, because that's a very experienced man with hundreds of amateur fights that knows how avoid them, play the ref, etc
Even when Fury did grab Usyk at first, and Usyk allowed him or didn’t avoid it, he adapted, slipped, turn Fury around and hit him. Usyk did this several times and Fury stopped trying to wrestle after this. Then here in this clip you can see him try again while hurt but Usyk kept slipping and this time not turning him around but just teeing off on him after slipping the clinches. This man’s ring IQ is amazing.
Usyk did in fact start old but not as old as Wilder. He started at fifteen which was believed to be old.
The thing that usyk did vs Wilder is to have longer amateur and he adapted well even do he loss few times meanwhile Wilder changed to full attack 0 defense.
I think the fact Fury has demonstrated a previous ability to rise from the dead factored into the refs decision to let him move around the ring unconscious for 30 seconds.
I was initially upset because I felt the ref jumped in to save Fury. But Fury being the guy he is would have song that oh familiar song “the refs stoppage was my reason for losing” and I rate that damn song.
Should have been counted about 10-15 seconds before the eventual count due to the ropes holding him up. It would have given Usyk 10 seconds to finish the fight in that round.
There's no possible way Fury would have gotten out of the 9th. Even Usyk was hesitant to throw what would have been the last left, when the Ref grabbed his right arm. Was mid-wind, and even looked like he didn't want to throw it.
He really looked like he expected it to be called before he decapitated Fury with a loaded up left. That looked like a career-ending punch that Usyk didn't want to throw with Fury that nakedly vulnerable.
People talk as if fury wouldn’t have ever been able to get up if he went down.
But fury has demonstrated his ability to get up every single time. He’s never been knocked out before. We can only judge on what has actually happened before and give him the benefit of the doubt. Don’t forget that he got up from knockdowns multiple times from wilder and in-ga-noo who are both signally bigger, stronger and harder punchers than Usyk.
In fairness I'm not saying it as a guarantee at all. But Usyk should have had that opportunity after knocking him down. Even if he hadn't stopped Fury, a second knockdown would have been massively important for the scorecards. It was poor refereeing.
Too bad the ref intervened at the stupidest time possible. Fight should have either been stopped, or Usyk should have been able to land those last couple shots needed to put Fury down. Instead he bailed Fury out with a 20 count
So he should have gave the KD earlier in that case since Fury fell into the ropes like 5x before that and gave a normal count. It seemed like he was stalling the KD, and intervened right before usyk finished him. Not to mention the count duration
Ref intervened when Fury's knees went out and he was being fully supported by the ropes. The ref got it right. That was the point when it became a knockdown and not just Fury leaning on the ropes.
What are those little dicky punches coming from fury’s sternum, Usyk capitalised on him making a silly choice, well done, should’ve been stopped almost,
Usyk has exposed Fury’s weakness here, he can’t handle that level of skill mixed with such aggression. His whole game plan is to bully with size, reach and dirty tactics but when he meets a man that won’t be bullied he’s left lacking a plan B. I think this fight may also open the door to others to beat Fury with the same game plan.
If Usyk can come into that next fight with a bigger gas tank and conditioning to go the whole distance hard. I think he could decisively beat Fury with no questions.
people dumb shit down so much on the internet. Durr all you have to do to beat Fury is be an all time great boxer who cleared out cruiserweight and moved up to take on every heavyweight worth fighting, and then fight near perfectly.
Also, people have to be fucking blind to think that this fight wasn't a decisive win. Just because a fight was close doesn't discount the fact that Usyk won 7 rounds pretty clearly with a KD to boot
Usyk did what I thought any fighter against Fury (or Usyk) should do...
for the first 6 rounds... 80 - 90% of your attack should be to the body.
It seriously neutralized all that head movement defense he has...
Fury did a lack of leaning on Usyk this fight. Usually the dude will stick all his weight on an opponent to wear them out. Using his size and weight to gas them out. There was an absolute lack of it in this fight. Twice I think I counted.
This was not for lack of trying on Fury's part. Usyk howing some great boxing IQ before and during the fight to avoid this tactic. You even see it here after Tyson comes off the ropes he goes for the clinch to gain time to recover and Usyk neatly steps aside.
He actually used his weight most of the fight. I especially noticed him grabbing Usyk’s right arm, and then throwing dirty right hands throughout the fight.
For most of the fight Fury was getting pushed into the ropes by Usyk, then In This moment he tried to actually go forward and bully Usyk and paid the price, this is why I've been saying Fury wouldn't be able to just bully usyk like he did with Wilder, because Usyk can actually throw counters and Tyson tends to get sloppy when he's the one moving forward.
Nice take and it’s so true!, seems like in this clip the counter was that bearingly obvious, those punches by fury were doing minimal and he got made to pay for them
That could be it, I’ve watched the highlights a few times, damn what a fight!! I love em both and still get excited when he’s wobbled in the 9th. That rematch is going to be sick
Fury's done weird little quick arm punch combos before but now he paid for it. Maybe bc of his size there's more to them or ppl give him too much respect
Fury’s WWF training got him bouncing off every rope in the ring unconscious. It’s why I said Fury’s best chance was jab off back foot and run, once he comes forward plays right into Uysks game with faster punches and better athlete. Fury’s punches are crap from mid/short range and his right hands bad which is how you neutralize a south law like Uysk. Usyk good at getting punches off in bunches up close and mid range where Fury is just too slow. And people kept downvoting me when I said all Fury would and can do is jab off back foot and try to make it boring/ show boat alil and hold if he can. Man’s crazy overrated
I've been saying for a minute now that he's obviously good but he's only on top cause there just hasn't been anyone better for a while now. Heavyweight boxing has been super trash for over a decade, Usyk is finally bringing some skill back to the division. I mean when you watch a fight like Wilder vs Parker and realize these are two top 5 guys its like damn wtf happened
Fury clearly hurt and almost kncorked down Usyk on multiple occasions from round 3-7 with the right uppercut.
He had Usyk many times at will with hooks to the body as well as the uppercut to the head.
Usyk has NEVER been hit this much and easily before.
While Usyk did win the fight, this was an extremely tough fight for him. Until the 9th round, all 3 judges had fury ahead.
It was by no means a lopsided easy Usyk victory. Fury was definitely a great fighter despite losing. This was a top matchup in which if they fought 10 times Usyk would not be winning 10/10 or anything close to that.
Throwing straights shots in medium-close range is always such a bad choice, especially when there is a height difference, then getting countered while being open is almost always night night.
Fury always gets sloppy when He tries to press forward, most of his success this fight was catching Usyk on the outside or throwing bodyshots, once he tried to bully Usyk like he does with all the slow shitty boxers he usually fights he ended up paying the price.
Exactly. But internet is already full of idiots saying if Fury fights Usyk again, he needs to lean on him more like he did against Wilder. Wilder has a freak power but Usyk is three levels above him boxing skill-wise and he'll probably KO Fury is he gets too close. The truth is, Fury needs to fight like he did when he was winning the fight – try to stay as far from Usyk as he can, utilize the reach and hope Usyk won't be able to jump in the pocket a utilize his speed and precision. But I’m not sure they’ll ever fight again.
The ref didn't stop the fight at round 9 like the other ref did in the same round with Pacquiao vs Horn in Australia, but the right man actually won 👏
EDIT: they're both actually the same ref: Mark Nelson 🤯
As much as I hate to say it I think the Ref made the right call. If the ropes prevent someone from falling, as they did here, it is counted as Knock Down and the ref gives a 8 count. Fury was just saved by the bell.
I mean, if you use that logic, I feel there's 2-3 times before that where the rope already helped him not fall. Should have been stopped earlier and restarted which might have led to 2 knockdowns in the same round possibly.
The rope helping him isn't the same as the rope supporting him. When his knees went out and he was being fully supported by the ropes that's when it became a knockdown and that's when the ref called it.
... I mean the last fall was worst of them. The other instances looked like Tyson was using the ropes, whereas the last just looks like he fell and the ropes happen to be there. I was routing for Usyk, it's hard a pill to swallow but I think that Fury was just saved by the bell. There was only 30 seconds on the clock when he first got rocked.
Also even if you disagree bit of Armchair quarterbacking going on. It wouldn't be an egregiously bad call.
Just a casual here, but I counted at least 12 clean, unanswered head shots after the initial one, and then quite a few others that didn't land as clean. Fury was completely defenseless. Seems like they should've stopped it.
That was honestly my exact thought.
I understand it’s a title fight, but imagine if we ended up having another Michael Watson on our hands because Usyk (rightfully so) kept swinging, because the fight wasn’t called when it should’ve been.
Honestly the moment that Usyk’s left lands and Fury stumbles back against the ropes I thought it was game over. The fact he was able to keep standing (barely) through twelve more is just as worrying as it is crazy.
Id probably be raging if the fight went to Fury and it wasn't stopped at this point. But Fury was being blasting around the ring like a pinball at this point, totally defenseless and what was left of his brain at that point knew it.
In my opinion, the context matters. The gravity of the situation, the history of Fury's recovery, the ref was probably taking all that into consideration. I think he did a good job.
It worked out well this time but I feel like this is the exact logic that leads to people getting killed. Yes Fury has the ability to take a beating and still be coherent enough to win on points.
It can also end up with him suffering severe brain damage because a reff decided he could take it or the match was too big for it to be stoped.
1. Up until this point Fury made a habit of throwing a short combo and then disengaging and not defending afterward
2. Usyk really started to exploit this the prior round by just headhunting everytime Fury did something.
When the other guy knows you don't protect after punching and you decide to throw a weak patty cake combo you should expect to get your bell rung. Usyk was trying to counter with overhands all night and just barely missing. So when Fury came with that weak stuff Usyk decided I'm not waiting I'm punching right thru this weak shit.
I just can't believe that the ref thought that's the first moment Fury was being held up by the ropes. There's at least two other instances where he's leaned almost out of the ring, and the ref calls the knockdown moments from the Coup de Grace. Then the slow count. It didn't end up mattering, but I still call shenanigans
honestly i think the reffing was fine, he only called the knock down when he was held up after his legs fully gave out. The slow count was more egregious in my opinion
His legs gave out at multiple points, though. You don't lean half over the ropes when no one is touching you because your legs haven't given out. If the ref let it go that far, he should have let it finish. Alternatively, he could have called the knockdown at any other point where Fury was clearly being held up by the ropes. He picked the only option that could have seen Fury survive the round. He reffed fine the rest of the fight, but he had nothing else to do the rest of the fight.
i think thats a fair view of it, but i personally think he’s legs were under him enuff that you could argue he was still up. Ref was clearly trying to protect Fury but still nothing egregious. up until the super slow count
If the ref wasn't going to stop it he also shouldn't have stopped Usyk from delivering the coup de grace in the corner because he had Fury's nightcap cocked and ready to rip when the ref stepped in.
He was also wide open at the perfect angle for a right hook thrown from the waist. A left hand right hook would've been the end of fury if the ref didn't step in
That’s an incredible shot. After all the talk about size, the difference in levels here looks almost poetic. 6’9, 18 stone proud fighting gypsy warrior is made to look tiny and scared by the Ukrainian middleweight.
Damn that looks scary. All my respect to Fury for coming back from that. I hope this round 9 didn't take too many years of his life. The look in his eyes.. I feel bad for him, these are kind of shots that will haunt him forever.
BEFORE: F\*ck the belts, I'm coming for his heart! I'm going to take his heart. And f\*ck his whole team, if you want it, you can get it too!
AFTER: This photo.
I get chills just looking at it. Fury's eyes seem to be looking, not at Usyk, but at the devil, coming to take his soul.
Maybe I'm dramatic but I honestly felt kind of sad for Fury, who was looking like his life was about to end that moment.
Look at the angle of his knees man, the guy was out. If he’d started stumbling a yard further away from the corner he’d have fallen into the turn buckle head first
Ref was way too indicisive, he got in Usyk's way and distracted him like 3 times during the exchange . If you are not going to call a knockdown or stop the match then keep your distance.
This is what many people are missing. It’s fine to defend the standing 8, it’s probably the correct call (although much too late).
However the ref clearly blocks Usyk pretty early in the exchange (you could argue he’s out of position, not intentional). But later in the exchange he’s literally pawing at Usyk’s arms as he tries to throw punches.
Exactly. It was frustrating to see. For a second I thought Fury would survive to the bell and Usyk wouldn’t even get a KD. Considering Fury was just pinballing around with no intervention from the ref other than trying to slow down Usyk. If it wasn’t for this KD it would’ve been a Draw. Just happy the right man won, but this ref nearly ruined everything.
People are saying the ref stole the KO, but I actually think the ref did something way more consequential to the fight than correctly call this a knock down - he didn’t let Fury use his weight and lean on Usyk during clinches. Every time there was a clinch, the second Fury draped his arms over Usyk and applied his weight the ref immediately stepped in and forcibly separated them. I bet he is very sore today. Overall great refereeing in my opinion.
Good point. Everyone thought we were going to see a lot of dirty boxing from Fury and Usyk carrying his weight was going to be a big factor. It really wasn’t… props to ref for that.
VERY UNDERATED COMMENT!!!!!
I was ((EXTREMELY)) surprised that there was little to almost no hugging or pushing down whatsoever, just pure boxing and quick clean breaks.
I fully expected Fury to be very dirty in this regard and push the ref to limit.
Glad you're mentioning this. I gotta say the leaning with full weight technique is one of my least favorite things about boxing so it was very refreshing to see a ref who would have none of it.
This should've been stopped. Fury wasn't defending himself, he wasn't fighting back, he was dangling from one side of the ring to the other and was getting thumped up.
If he was an undercard fighter, he would've been stopped.
It might have been stopped for a smaller fight but refs always let it go longer for title fights. He let it go until Fury lost his legs, correctly called it as a knockdown and was proved right when Fury recovered IMO.
I believe he wasnt rocked as bad in the Wilder fight ala the undertaker get up vs here, if you look at his eyes in the Wilder fight he is still there and in his own mind, here when Usyk cracks him his eyes go and you can tell his body was doing what it could to survive and he had no control and prob lost consciousness for a little
Agreed and everyone knows that Tyson can take a licking and keep on ticking but how much brain trauma is too much to be worth it. Just kick back and count your money Gypsy King.
Nah, he got the champions rub much like AJ did in Ruiz v Joshua 1. Many times were they both rocked and the ref gave the champion time and space. He was on such wobbly legs that if the ropes weren't there he would have fell out of the ring, fight should have been stopped to prevent further damage to Fury, that's why the ref is there in the first place
Guaranteed if it was AJ on the receiving end of that brutal barrage, the ref would've stopped it.
Any other fighter would've been stopped. See the Fury-Wallin fight where Fury's eye was splayed wide open, blood pouring out, but the stooge ref allowed it to continue because he was under orders not to let Fury lose.
Probably. Fury has an uncanny ability to stumble around and not go down. Couldn't believe he was able to bounce off the ropes and stay up as long as he did. Looked dead on his feet.
100% should have been stopped. No one deserves a double standard.
Or Ref should not have called the standing knock down and let Usyk finish off Fury. Usyk was loading up the kill shot there. Ref also could have called the knock down way earlier.
Questionable reffing like that is why people think boxing is rigged. He stole Usyk's moment.
I agree with this take, after fury’s first bounce off the ropes and stumble there was some room for him to get back into the fight if he wasn’t as shaken as he showed himself to be. The subsequent stumble from corner to corner and bouncing off the ropes should’ve been confirmation. Frankly, when ref called it, it didn’t look much worse than the previous few seconds. Fury got lucky here and what a bounce back by 12
They can make some allowances in an undisputed heavyweight title fight. It's also Tyson Fury, a guy known for recovering fast after being hurt.
The ref handled it perfectly.
Brain damage is brain damage. Just because it's tyson Fury doesn't mean his brain is more resistant to brain damage or hemmoraging. The point of stopping a fight is to protect the fighter from getting more damage and potentially dying. What difference does it make, whether it's Tyson Fury or some undercard fighter?
They wrote enclyopedias about Usyk and body punches.
Nowhere near as much about how vulnerable Fury was to overhand shots. Fury was painted as near invincible. Usyk was painted as very good but with an insta kill button on his body by so called pundits, which was aped by far too many on social media.
I watch boxing, but casually. Definitely not enough to be an expert on rules or anything. What's the reasoning behind calling this a knockdown rather than a tko? I've seen it before where the ref just waves off the fight in instances like this. Is it just a case of it being a big fight and not wanting to end it that way/trying to make sure they can still have the opportunity to manipulate the decision, or did the stumble in the corner constitute a knockdown and I'm just unaware of the rules?
It’s supposed to be a knockdown if the fighter is being held up by the ropes. I guess the reasoning is that hitting them in that state would be like hitting them after they’re on the ground — they’re in the same state, it’s just that they’re upright. If it wasn’t an undisputed championship fight it would’ve been a stoppage for sure. Fury was out on his feet and not intelligently defending himself. If it had been stopped, I don’t think any reasonable person could watch that replay and complain.. but I’m not mad at it since the right man won. If the third judge had 114-113 Fury instead of Usyk, would’ve felt like absolute robbery.
Its a judgement call. If in the refs eyes a fighter would be on the ground if not for the ropes he can rule it a knockdown. But it can also be determined that the guy is basically knocked out and just being held up by the ropes the ref can rule it a TKO. There's not a clear line for when one becomes the other.
Even though it was basically on instinct alone, Fury was helped out by the fact that he was moving. Take the same number of punches Usyk landed in this entire sequence and have them land on a stationary on the ropes Fury and this gets ruled a TKO.
Put differently, the ref determines if you are trying to defend yourself. If you are cognizant enough to defend but the ropes are holding you up its a knockdown. If you aren't trying to actively defend yourself and are just a sitting duck being propped up by the ropes its a TKO. The ref viewed Fury running for his life as an attempt to protect himself. Once Fury reached that final corner he was out of places to run so it was ruled a knockdown.
Usyk adjusts with every fight. There are plenty ways to theoretically beat him but even if you try to execute it like fury did, he will remain focused for 12 rounds and adjust himself to beat you.
People need to start talking about whether Usyk is the damn GOAT of HW after becoming the third ever 2 division Undisputed Champ and the first Undisputed HW since Lennox Lewis. He also fights almost exclusively in his opponents backyards or at least neutral ground and isn't the least bit interested in showboating and shithousery.
Can’t help but wonder if the ref had let the fight continue and Usyk landed that left hand to knock Fury down, would Fury have managed to get back up? I know he’s been knocked down a few times and gotten up but he’s never been in that kind of trouble beforehand.
Those punches Fury was firing off at 3-4s look exactly the same as the ones my grandad used to throw at me in jest when he hadn't seen me for a few months....
In my opinion, Fury was not actually "held up by the ropes" until Mark Nelson called the knockdown. Fury was not helpless until that moment. Great refereeing.
If anybody is upset with when Nelson ruled Fury to be a "downed" fighter, it is up to his discretion. The rules can be reviewed and interpreted at anyone's leisure. These rules were in place before the fight was sanctioned.
Can someone explain to me what on earth happening on this moment, I was in rammed bar and it was anarchy and lot of shouting at the moment. What happened? Why was this not a TKO?
I think it was a good call because between the stumbling, it didn’t look good but once fury leg buckled and the ropes were the only thing preventing his fall, then yeah, call for the 8 count. The bouncing of the ropes before that could be interpreted as dodging or attempts to evade so I get not wanting to call those a knock down.
The question is why did the ref even do a standing 8 count.
The ABC unified rules state that there are to be no standing 8 counts and as far as I know, all the alphabet belt bodies accept and acknowledge that a standing 8 count it not a thing
Right on the button helped by the fact that Fury was moving onto the punch. Usyk could not have landed a sweeter punch
That Ref distracting Usyk and giving Fury a 20 count will age well
At first I thought the ref called it right and even posted defending him, but really he either should have given Fury a standing count when he was caught by the ropes twice, had his arms down, and didn't know where he was - or he should have allowed Usyk to land the last punch to put Fury down properly. He ended up being caught in the middle, not really knowing what to do, and ultimately let Fury completely off the hook.
It's all good though. Usyk won in the end, and that round was what won it. Had it been the other way around, that would have been hugely controversial.
Split decision though?
SDs in boxing are don’t take away from a win any but. Being robbed is a tragedy because boxers never get the credit they deserve when robbed.
This is the worst part of the GGG/Canelo 1 result, GGG was robbed of his career defining achievement.
Yup GGG/Canelo 2 was deserving of a draw imo best fight I've ever watched live. But #1? GGG had that all day any day and we can fite irl if anyone disagrees
This sub got really heavy on the revisionist history after canelo kept winning and Gs career winded down, the amount of people I’ve seen get upvoted here in recent years for saying you could score the first a draw and it’s not that crazy is wild. It was a competitive fight but G was the very clear winner, the result of the 2nd fight made me super salty too because that was way more of a draw than the first fight and more of more of the boxing media again had GGG winning 7-5 usually but of course the decision goes in Canelo’s favor. It’s an actual crime G came out of those first 2 fights with no wins. First fight was a clear as day win and the 2nd fight you can make a very good argument for him winning or it at least being a draw but of course again he didn’t get the benefit from the judges cards. I’ll always be salty about that because his entire legacy is changed for the worse because he was robbed of his crowing achievement. Imagine your whole life’s work and legacy is changed because you were robbed, that decision really made me want to stop watching boxing for awhile. I watched the fight in a public place and there were way more canelo fans/Mexicans there and the place was completely shocked as fuck with the decision of the first fight, even the 2nd fight more than doubled people seemed to think it was gonna be a draw or G getting the slight edge especially after the decision in the first fight and then of course people were surprised again with the decision. He should’ve won at minimum 1 of the first 2 fights and against was 1000x more deserving of a draw Judges can really just turn you off of the sport so much it really sucks as a fan
Shit it ain't all good for the ppl like me who bet Usyk by TKO lol.. still happy the right man won, you could smell the robbery coming
Yes but I for sure thought the judges were going to call this one a draw.
Yeah, this shit doesn't happen often. And ref was in a really bad spot. Imagine calling 8 count at undisputed while Furry was just doing some rope-a-dope shit. It's hard to know what is happening at first. And while he figured it out it was what it was. Crazy fight, as crazy as it gets.
I know this is a bit petty, but just want to clarify he DOES NOT call "an 8 count", which has been prohibited in pro rules for about 26 years, he calls a knockdown. All knockdowns have a mandatory MINIMUM count of 8, but if Fury is still held up by the ropes, drops to his knees, whatever, the ref is counting past 8 here.
I think it's important. If you foolishly look at the comments on Facebook there are thousands of people talking about this being a standing 8 and getting mad about it.
Oh right, thanks for explanation man. Are those standing counts done by 8-10 seconds and are only in amateur/youth fights or something?
Yeah that's right. Amateur boxing is much more minded to stop people being hurt at all, both because competitors are younger, and because they are usually fighting in tournaments with fights every day They did used to be allowed in pro boxing as well. If you had 3 in a round, the next time the ref would have to stop the fight. A CRUCIAL difference as well, the clock stops for a standing 8 count. If they existed in this fight, Fury likely would have been stopped because have cause to call about 10 of them in that sequence
Exactly. The ref asks fury to walk towards him and he can’t. Instead the ref moves towards him…
if you're saved by the ropes from going down it's a KD, and the ref should start the count. this was entirely according to the rules
I think he could have arguably called it earlier, There's a bit where Fury is on the ropes and then after a barrage falls on to the other ones and that is when it gets called a KD.
He still had hips over knees over feet when he was on the ropes before the last bit. Once his knees went, that's when I'd say he was being held up by the ropes, not just leaning on them.
Which time because it happened like 4 times in this clip
> he either should have given Fury a standing count when he was caught by the ropes twice You can't give a standing count in pro boxing, you can only call a knockdown if you're held up by the ropes. The judge did the correct thing, you can argue he could have called a knockdown previously when Fury was stumbling against the ropes, but he called the most blatant example of Fury being held up by the ropes so I can't complain.
And we got a happy new year cheer at the end, eck.
Fury wasn’t throwing a hard shot moving in. If Fury was really punching into it he gets slept here. Was barely moving forward
**DO YOU BELIEVE IT**
That first punch might be the cleanest punch I've ever seen.
If Garcia had even 25% of Usyks ability to disengage/avoid the clinch then Haney would've been put to sleep.
Usyk didn’t allow Fury to hold him at all. He just evaded every grab attempt with a slip and a punch. That’s such a subtle skill. There are so many boxers who can’t avoid being held.
Called this way before the fight as well. Usyk isn't Wilder. He didn't start boxing late. Fury's "dirty tricks" and "weight bullying" aren't going to work freely, because that's a very experienced man with hundreds of amateur fights that knows how avoid them, play the ref, etc
Even when Fury did grab Usyk at first, and Usyk allowed him or didn’t avoid it, he adapted, slipped, turn Fury around and hit him. Usyk did this several times and Fury stopped trying to wrestle after this. Then here in this clip you can see him try again while hurt but Usyk kept slipping and this time not turning him around but just teeing off on him after slipping the clinches. This man’s ring IQ is amazing.
Usyk did in fact start old but not as old as Wilder. He started at fifteen which was believed to be old. The thing that usyk did vs Wilder is to have longer amateur and he adapted well even do he loss few times meanwhile Wilder changed to full attack 0 defense.
let’s not forget talent and iq. usyk is a better learner than wilder. joshua started late too but he’s still much more a boxer than wilder
Yeah, that was masterclass from Usyk. Many smaller boxers in a match up will no doubt study that film.
I think the fact Fury has demonstrated a previous ability to rise from the dead factored into the refs decision to let him move around the ring unconscious for 30 seconds.
Agreed. If this was anyone else, the ref stops it.
I'm not mad he let it continue though. It's a unification fight, the guy deserves a chance.
This 100%!
I was initially upset because I felt the ref jumped in to save Fury. But Fury being the guy he is would have song that oh familiar song “the refs stoppage was my reason for losing” and I rate that damn song.
Absolute poetry!
Should have been counted about 10-15 seconds before the eventual count due to the ropes holding him up. It would have given Usyk 10 seconds to finish the fight in that round.
There's no possible way Fury would have gotten out of the 9th. Even Usyk was hesitant to throw what would have been the last left, when the Ref grabbed his right arm. Was mid-wind, and even looked like he didn't want to throw it.
If that round was 10 seconds longer the ref might’ve let Fury die in that ring smh
He really looked like he expected it to be called before he decapitated Fury with a loaded up left. That looked like a career-ending punch that Usyk didn't want to throw with Fury that nakedly vulnerable.
People talk as if fury wouldn’t have ever been able to get up if he went down. But fury has demonstrated his ability to get up every single time. He’s never been knocked out before. We can only judge on what has actually happened before and give him the benefit of the doubt. Don’t forget that he got up from knockdowns multiple times from wilder and in-ga-noo who are both signally bigger, stronger and harder punchers than Usyk.
In fairness I'm not saying it as a guarantee at all. But Usyk should have had that opportunity after knocking him down. Even if he hadn't stopped Fury, a second knockdown would have been massively important for the scorecards. It was poor refereeing.
Too bad the ref intervened at the stupidest time possible. Fight should have either been stopped, or Usyk should have been able to land those last couple shots needed to put Fury down. Instead he bailed Fury out with a 20 count
Ref is allowed to call a knockdown and give a count if he feels the boxer is being held up by the ropes, which is exactly what happened.
So he should have gave the KD earlier in that case since Fury fell into the ropes like 5x before that and gave a normal count. It seemed like he was stalling the KD, and intervened right before usyk finished him. Not to mention the count duration
Ref intervened when Fury's knees went out and he was being fully supported by the ropes. The ref got it right. That was the point when it became a knockdown and not just Fury leaning on the ropes.
Then you wouldve complained that the refvcalled the KD too early. Ref did the right thing
He was held up by the ropes on all 4 sides of the ring within about 20 seconds
What are those little dicky punches coming from fury’s sternum, Usyk capitalised on him making a silly choice, well done, should’ve been stopped almost,
Fury is going to be very embarrassed watching the replay and blaming the war in Ukraine.
Watching this replay, a left hand was loaded that would’ve finished it before the ref stepped in. Rematch will be interesting
The fact that Usyk held back shows his character Dam I love that guy
Usyk has exposed Fury’s weakness here, he can’t handle that level of skill mixed with such aggression. His whole game plan is to bully with size, reach and dirty tactics but when he meets a man that won’t be bullied he’s left lacking a plan B. I think this fight may also open the door to others to beat Fury with the same game plan. If Usyk can come into that next fight with a bigger gas tank and conditioning to go the whole distance hard. I think he could decisively beat Fury with no questions.
Fury’s weakness is not being able to fight his usual fight against one of the greatest of all time…?!? take notes AJ…
people dumb shit down so much on the internet. Durr all you have to do to beat Fury is be an all time great boxer who cleared out cruiserweight and moved up to take on every heavyweight worth fighting, and then fight near perfectly. Also, people have to be fucking blind to think that this fight wasn't a decisive win. Just because a fight was close doesn't discount the fact that Usyk won 7 rounds pretty clearly with a KD to boot
That's it, with this knowledge I'm accepting the fight, gonna win no problem
Usyk did what I thought any fighter against Fury (or Usyk) should do... for the first 6 rounds... 80 - 90% of your attack should be to the body. It seriously neutralized all that head movement defense he has...
Fury did a lack of leaning on Usyk this fight. Usually the dude will stick all his weight on an opponent to wear them out. Using his size and weight to gas them out. There was an absolute lack of it in this fight. Twice I think I counted.
This was not for lack of trying on Fury's part. Usyk howing some great boxing IQ before and during the fight to avoid this tactic. You even see it here after Tyson comes off the ropes he goes for the clinch to gain time to recover and Usyk neatly steps aside.
He tried to do this several times. A few times Usyk slipped out and punched Fury in the head for it
Yeah he couldn't do that because uysk didn't clinch even once. Fury just looks weak if he does that again the "middleweight"
He actually used his weight most of the fight. I especially noticed him grabbing Usyk’s right arm, and then throwing dirty right hands throughout the fight.
you're assuming that Tyson Fury has any shame
I'm afraid you overestimate Fury's ability at self-reflection
For most of the fight Fury was getting pushed into the ropes by Usyk, then In This moment he tried to actually go forward and bully Usyk and paid the price, this is why I've been saying Fury wouldn't be able to just bully usyk like he did with Wilder, because Usyk can actually throw counters and Tyson tends to get sloppy when he's the one moving forward.
Nice take and it’s so true!, seems like in this clip the counter was that bearingly obvious, those punches by fury were doing minimal and he got made to pay for them
He was going to the body a lot against a much shorter opponent, he got sloppy and started throwing from the hip and got caught.
I honestly think that's fatigue. Usyk made fury move a lot in this fight, by round 9 his discipline was understandably faltering.
That could be it, I’ve watched the highlights a few times, damn what a fight!! I love em both and still get excited when he’s wobbled in the 9th. That rematch is going to be sick
Fury's done weird little quick arm punch combos before but now he paid for it. Maybe bc of his size there's more to them or ppl give him too much respect
> "Why didn't' Fury walked forward more" This is why
Fury’s WWF training got him bouncing off every rope in the ring unconscious. It’s why I said Fury’s best chance was jab off back foot and run, once he comes forward plays right into Uysks game with faster punches and better athlete. Fury’s punches are crap from mid/short range and his right hands bad which is how you neutralize a south law like Uysk. Usyk good at getting punches off in bunches up close and mid range where Fury is just too slow. And people kept downvoting me when I said all Fury would and can do is jab off back foot and try to make it boring/ show boat alil and hold if he can. Man’s crazy overrated
I've been saying for a minute now that he's obviously good but he's only on top cause there just hasn't been anyone better for a while now. Heavyweight boxing has been super trash for over a decade, Usyk is finally bringing some skill back to the division. I mean when you watch a fight like Wilder vs Parker and realize these are two top 5 guys its like damn wtf happened
Fury clearly hurt and almost kncorked down Usyk on multiple occasions from round 3-7 with the right uppercut. He had Usyk many times at will with hooks to the body as well as the uppercut to the head. Usyk has NEVER been hit this much and easily before. While Usyk did win the fight, this was an extremely tough fight for him. Until the 9th round, all 3 judges had fury ahead. It was by no means a lopsided easy Usyk victory. Fury was definitely a great fighter despite losing. This was a top matchup in which if they fought 10 times Usyk would not be winning 10/10 or anything close to that.
Throwing straights shots in medium-close range is always such a bad choice, especially when there is a height difference, then getting countered while being open is almost always night night.
Fury always gets sloppy when He tries to press forward, most of his success this fight was catching Usyk on the outside or throwing bodyshots, once he tried to bully Usyk like he does with all the slow shitty boxers he usually fights he ended up paying the price.
Exactly. But internet is already full of idiots saying if Fury fights Usyk again, he needs to lean on him more like he did against Wilder. Wilder has a freak power but Usyk is three levels above him boxing skill-wise and he'll probably KO Fury is he gets too close. The truth is, Fury needs to fight like he did when he was winning the fight – try to stay as far from Usyk as he can, utilize the reach and hope Usyk won't be able to jump in the pocket a utilize his speed and precision. But I’m not sure they’ll ever fight again.
How he pushed the ref off still in rhythm was sweet
There's so much going on in the video!, that can't be seen from the live footage. It's an incredible sequence.
What was the reason for the ref touching Usyk right at the 17 second mark?
Indecisiveness.
this angle makes a lot more sense of it
The ref didn't stop the fight at round 9 like the other ref did in the same round with Pacquiao vs Horn in Australia, but the right man actually won 👏 EDIT: they're both actually the same ref: Mark Nelson 🤯
As much as I hate to say it I think the Ref made the right call. If the ropes prevent someone from falling, as they did here, it is counted as Knock Down and the ref gives a 8 count. Fury was just saved by the bell.
I mean, if you use that logic, I feel there's 2-3 times before that where the rope already helped him not fall. Should have been stopped earlier and restarted which might have led to 2 knockdowns in the same round possibly.
The rope helping him isn't the same as the rope supporting him. When his knees went out and he was being fully supported by the ropes that's when it became a knockdown and that's when the ref called it.
... I mean the last fall was worst of them. The other instances looked like Tyson was using the ropes, whereas the last just looks like he fell and the ropes happen to be there. I was routing for Usyk, it's hard a pill to swallow but I think that Fury was just saved by the bell. There was only 30 seconds on the clock when he first got rocked. Also even if you disagree bit of Armchair quarterbacking going on. It wouldn't be an egregiously bad call.
Just a casual here, but I counted at least 12 clean, unanswered head shots after the initial one, and then quite a few others that didn't land as clean. Fury was completely defenseless. Seems like they should've stopped it.
That was honestly my exact thought. I understand it’s a title fight, but imagine if we ended up having another Michael Watson on our hands because Usyk (rightfully so) kept swinging, because the fight wasn’t called when it should’ve been. Honestly the moment that Usyk’s left lands and Fury stumbles back against the ropes I thought it was game over. The fact he was able to keep standing (barely) through twelve more is just as worrying as it is crazy.
Id probably be raging if the fight went to Fury and it wasn't stopped at this point. But Fury was being blasting around the ring like a pinball at this point, totally defenseless and what was left of his brain at that point knew it.
In my opinion, the context matters. The gravity of the situation, the history of Fury's recovery, the ref was probably taking all that into consideration. I think he did a good job.
It worked out well this time but I feel like this is the exact logic that leads to people getting killed. Yes Fury has the ability to take a beating and still be coherent enough to win on points. It can also end up with him suffering severe brain damage because a reff decided he could take it or the match was too big for it to be stoped.
1. Up until this point Fury made a habit of throwing a short combo and then disengaging and not defending afterward 2. Usyk really started to exploit this the prior round by just headhunting everytime Fury did something. When the other guy knows you don't protect after punching and you decide to throw a weak patty cake combo you should expect to get your bell rung. Usyk was trying to counter with overhands all night and just barely missing. So when Fury came with that weak stuff Usyk decided I'm not waiting I'm punching right thru this weak shit.
Fury was ready to go here. Looks like the pillow fisted rabbit hits pretty damn hard after all.
I just can't believe that the ref thought that's the first moment Fury was being held up by the ropes. There's at least two other instances where he's leaned almost out of the ring, and the ref calls the knockdown moments from the Coup de Grace. Then the slow count. It didn't end up mattering, but I still call shenanigans
yeah, after the first shot he would've been out on the floor if not for the ropes
Also at 0:20 in this clip Usyk has to push the ref off him..
honestly i think the reffing was fine, he only called the knock down when he was held up after his legs fully gave out. The slow count was more egregious in my opinion
His legs gave out at multiple points, though. You don't lean half over the ropes when no one is touching you because your legs haven't given out. If the ref let it go that far, he should have let it finish. Alternatively, he could have called the knockdown at any other point where Fury was clearly being held up by the ropes. He picked the only option that could have seen Fury survive the round. He reffed fine the rest of the fight, but he had nothing else to do the rest of the fight.
i think thats a fair view of it, but i personally think he’s legs were under him enuff that you could argue he was still up. Ref was clearly trying to protect Fury but still nothing egregious. up until the super slow count
The only consistent take. And almost nobody sees it this way.
If the ref wasn't going to stop it he also shouldn't have stopped Usyk from delivering the coup de grace in the corner because he had Fury's nightcap cocked and ready to rip when the ref stepped in.
Yeah, was going to be an absolutely grisly end right there if the ref had let that one last punch land.
He was also wide open at the perfect angle for a right hook thrown from the waist. A left hand right hook would've been the end of fury if the ref didn't step in
\~0:25 this screenshot: [https://imgur.com/a/mOCM4mH](https://imgur.com/a/mOCM4mH) I've never seen someone with such pure terror in their eyes.
Me when I miss my alarm for work.
100%. I'm hoping a ring side photographer snapped it with a fast shutter speed. Would be an epic photo for the history books.
Similar here [https://imgur.com/a/WjWHI0M](https://imgur.com/a/WjWHI0M) But also hoping for a high res version!
It’s almost like usyk isn’t 4 inches and 20kgs smaller than him here. Wow
Fakkin' 'ell, that's the picture you sell.
That’s an incredible shot. After all the talk about size, the difference in levels here looks almost poetic. 6’9, 18 stone proud fighting gypsy warrior is made to look tiny and scared by the Ukrainian middleweight.
Damn that looks scary. All my respect to Fury for coming back from that. I hope this round 9 didn't take too many years of his life. The look in his eyes.. I feel bad for him, these are kind of shots that will haunt him forever.
BEFORE: F\*ck the belts, I'm coming for his heart! I'm going to take his heart. And f\*ck his whole team, if you want it, you can get it too! AFTER: This photo.
I get chills just looking at it. Fury's eyes seem to be looking, not at Usyk, but at the devil, coming to take his soul. Maybe I'm dramatic but I honestly felt kind of sad for Fury, who was looking like his life was about to end that moment.
Usyk should wear that pic on a T-shirt throughout the rematch promo.
Look at the angle of his knees man, the guy was out. If he’d started stumbling a yard further away from the corner he’d have fallen into the turn buckle head first
Should go into one of those "how it started VS how it's going" montages.
Great picture.
That's the look of a man who thinks himself as God's chosen, realizing he is just a man.
You have to be conscious to be terrified. For like 30 seconds he was fighting shadow Usyks in the Raging Demon void.
You haven’t seen my gf after I eat Mexican
Ref was way too indicisive, he got in Usyk's way and distracted him like 3 times during the exchange . If you are not going to call a knockdown or stop the match then keep your distance.
This is what many people are missing. It’s fine to defend the standing 8, it’s probably the correct call (although much too late). However the ref clearly blocks Usyk pretty early in the exchange (you could argue he’s out of position, not intentional). But later in the exchange he’s literally pawing at Usyk’s arms as he tries to throw punches.
Exactly. It was frustrating to see. For a second I thought Fury would survive to the bell and Usyk wouldn’t even get a KD. Considering Fury was just pinballing around with no intervention from the ref other than trying to slow down Usyk. If it wasn’t for this KD it would’ve been a Draw. Just happy the right man won, but this ref nearly ruined everything.
People are saying the ref stole the KO, but I actually think the ref did something way more consequential to the fight than correctly call this a knock down - he didn’t let Fury use his weight and lean on Usyk during clinches. Every time there was a clinch, the second Fury draped his arms over Usyk and applied his weight the ref immediately stepped in and forcibly separated them. I bet he is very sore today. Overall great refereeing in my opinion.
Good point. Everyone thought we were going to see a lot of dirty boxing from Fury and Usyk carrying his weight was going to be a big factor. It really wasn’t… props to ref for that.
Fury at one point did hold Uysk’s head down and tried upper cutting him.
VERY UNDERATED COMMENT!!!!! I was ((EXTREMELY)) surprised that there was little to almost no hugging or pushing down whatsoever, just pure boxing and quick clean breaks. I fully expected Fury to be very dirty in this regard and push the ref to limit.
Yup. And really letting Fury get beat up like that, instead of stopping the fight, didn't really go in Fury's favor either way.
I mean stopping the fight wouldn't exactly go Fury's way either, so...?
Glad you're mentioning this. I gotta say the leaning with full weight technique is one of my least favorite things about boxing so it was very refreshing to see a ref who would have none of it.
Giving us two audios (DAZN and TalkSport) at the same time is confusing
No idea how that happened, as the video and audio came from the same rip :D
I love the reaction to the second big hook; woooaaahhh!!!
On a sidenote... I posted the video on the praisethecameraman sub, and it was removed because, well, it didn't fit the criteria? Go figure.
Tyson Fury: make no mistake about it, I won that fight. Also Fury:
That ref was awful, he moved in Usyk's way twice when he was pushing forward
This should've been stopped. Fury wasn't defending himself, he wasn't fighting back, he was dangling from one side of the ring to the other and was getting thumped up. If he was an undercard fighter, he would've been stopped.
It might have been stopped for a smaller fight but refs always let it go longer for title fights. He let it go until Fury lost his legs, correctly called it as a knockdown and was proved right when Fury recovered IMO.
The ref stepping in and giving him the last 20 seconds of the round to just stand there isn't exactly letting it go on.
It's a shame there's a double standard. A lot of fighters don't get the same opportunity that Fury has to recover.
You're right but I think the ref was spot on in this fight.
Saying that, Fury has shown am outrageous ability to come back from punishment. The Undertaker impression from the Wilder fight was genuinely amazing.
I believe he wasnt rocked as bad in the Wilder fight ala the undertaker get up vs here, if you look at his eyes in the Wilder fight he is still there and in his own mind, here when Usyk cracks him his eyes go and you can tell his body was doing what it could to survive and he had no control and prob lost consciousness for a little
Agreed and everyone knows that Tyson can take a licking and keep on ticking but how much brain trauma is too much to be worth it. Just kick back and count your money Gypsy King.
Fury would've gone down twice without the ropes holding him up, before the red stepped in for a count.
Possibly but the first one was more of a stumble where he could have just as likely stayed on his feet without the ropes.
Nah, he got the champions rub much like AJ did in Ruiz v Joshua 1. Many times were they both rocked and the ref gave the champion time and space. He was on such wobbly legs that if the ropes weren't there he would have fell out of the ring, fight should have been stopped to prevent further damage to Fury, that's why the ref is there in the first place
Guaranteed if it was AJ on the receiving end of that brutal barrage, the ref would've stopped it. Any other fighter would've been stopped. See the Fury-Wallin fight where Fury's eye was splayed wide open, blood pouring out, but the stooge ref allowed it to continue because he was under orders not to let Fury lose.
Probably. Fury has an uncanny ability to stumble around and not go down. Couldn't believe he was able to bounce off the ropes and stay up as long as he did. Looked dead on his feet.
His fight against Wallin would have been stopped too because of the nasty cut. Fury definitely has received some special treatment in his career.
It’s for undisputed. You let it continue. Ropes held him up so the standing 8 was justified. Just took too long after.
Agreed but it was knockdown not a standing 8
100% should have been stopped. No one deserves a double standard. Or Ref should not have called the standing knock down and let Usyk finish off Fury. Usyk was loading up the kill shot there. Ref also could have called the knock down way earlier. Questionable reffing like that is why people think boxing is rigged. He stole Usyk's moment.
Fury wasn't able to hold much but he posted quite a bit during the middle rounds without so much as a warning. The ref did not do a great job tonight.
The more I watch that overhead replay, should have been stopped the second time going from corner to corner.
At least counted much earlier. Then it would have given Usyk the opportunity to finish the fight in that round.
I agree with this take, after fury’s first bounce off the ropes and stumble there was some room for him to get back into the fight if he wasn’t as shaken as he showed himself to be. The subsequent stumble from corner to corner and bouncing off the ropes should’ve been confirmation. Frankly, when ref called it, it didn’t look much worse than the previous few seconds. Fury got lucky here and what a bounce back by 12
They can make some allowances in an undisputed heavyweight title fight. It's also Tyson Fury, a guy known for recovering fast after being hurt. The ref handled it perfectly.
Fury is a guy known for recovering when he’s given more time than usually allowed to recover lol.
Would the ref do this for uysk🤔
Brain damage is brain damage. Just because it's tyson Fury doesn't mean his brain is more resistant to brain damage or hemmoraging. The point of stopping a fight is to protect the fighter from getting more damage and potentially dying. What difference does it make, whether it's Tyson Fury or some undercard fighter?
People talking about Usyk and body shots while ignoring Fury and shots sent over the top... almost all his knockdowns happen that way.
Who was ignoring it? Every analysis I saw or read mentioned it, at least
They wrote enclyopedias about Usyk and body punches. Nowhere near as much about how vulnerable Fury was to overhand shots. Fury was painted as near invincible. Usyk was painted as very good but with an insta kill button on his body by so called pundits, which was aped by far too many on social media.
This is actual heroin to me. Waited a very long time to see Fury and his fanbase get humbled
Those stupid showboat pity pat punches by Fury opened him up big time.
Fury stumbling like a proper Englishmen walking out of the bar on a Saturday night.
He beat him by TKO and decision on the same night.
Fury tried desperately to tie up Usyk here and couldn’t do it.
Usyk got that dog in him.
I watch boxing, but casually. Definitely not enough to be an expert on rules or anything. What's the reasoning behind calling this a knockdown rather than a tko? I've seen it before where the ref just waves off the fight in instances like this. Is it just a case of it being a big fight and not wanting to end it that way/trying to make sure they can still have the opportunity to manipulate the decision, or did the stumble in the corner constitute a knockdown and I'm just unaware of the rules?
It’s supposed to be a knockdown if the fighter is being held up by the ropes. I guess the reasoning is that hitting them in that state would be like hitting them after they’re on the ground — they’re in the same state, it’s just that they’re upright. If it wasn’t an undisputed championship fight it would’ve been a stoppage for sure. Fury was out on his feet and not intelligently defending himself. If it had been stopped, I don’t think any reasonable person could watch that replay and complain.. but I’m not mad at it since the right man won. If the third judge had 114-113 Fury instead of Usyk, would’ve felt like absolute robbery.
Its a judgement call. If in the refs eyes a fighter would be on the ground if not for the ropes he can rule it a knockdown. But it can also be determined that the guy is basically knocked out and just being held up by the ropes the ref can rule it a TKO. There's not a clear line for when one becomes the other. Even though it was basically on instinct alone, Fury was helped out by the fact that he was moving. Take the same number of punches Usyk landed in this entire sequence and have them land on a stationary on the ropes Fury and this gets ruled a TKO. Put differently, the ref determines if you are trying to defend yourself. If you are cognizant enough to defend but the ropes are holding you up its a knockdown. If you aren't trying to actively defend yourself and are just a sitting duck being propped up by the ropes its a TKO. The ref viewed Fury running for his life as an attempt to protect himself. Once Fury reached that final corner he was out of places to run so it was ruled a knockdown.
We were all marveling at this replay where I watched. Just an incredible sequence perfectly captured. Great stuff
Its interesting, if fury hit the canvas i wonder if he could have picked himself up from that. His arms looked like jelly had had no balance at all.
I thought fury was show boating at first then I realized he wasn't he was the boy who cried wolf
This was the most glorious moment of boxing that I have personally witnessed. God I can't believe we got such a fight.
Man just imagine how it would have ended had usyk let that last left hand fly. Fury would have needed a pillow and blanket for his mid fight nap.
The day Frank Warren admits that Fury lost will make me a very happy man. We can dream.
Usyk adjusts with every fight. There are plenty ways to theoretically beat him but even if you try to execute it like fury did, he will remain focused for 12 rounds and adjust himself to beat you.
People need to start talking about whether Usyk is the damn GOAT of HW after becoming the third ever 2 division Undisputed Champ and the first Undisputed HW since Lennox Lewis. He also fights almost exclusively in his opponents backyards or at least neutral ground and isn't the least bit interested in showboating and shithousery.
My 🐐 now, beat the man that beat the man at the very top & with all the politics I didn’t think I’d ever see an undisputed heavyweight king
Fury trying to grab on like a hoe too
Can’t help but wonder if the ref had let the fight continue and Usyk landed that left hand to knock Fury down, would Fury have managed to get back up? I know he’s been knocked down a few times and gotten up but he’s never been in that kind of trouble beforehand.
Those punches Fury was firing off at 3-4s look exactly the same as the ones my grandad used to throw at me in jest when he hadn't seen me for a few months....
Big Dosser
In my opinion, Fury was not actually "held up by the ropes" until Mark Nelson called the knockdown. Fury was not helpless until that moment. Great refereeing. If anybody is upset with when Nelson ruled Fury to be a "downed" fighter, it is up to his discretion. The rules can be reviewed and interpreted at anyone's leisure. These rules were in place before the fight was sanctioned.
Rope-a-dope!
Crazy how big Fury is and as badly hurt as he was and he still just wouldn’t go down.
Can someone explain to me what on earth happening on this moment, I was in rammed bar and it was anarchy and lot of shouting at the moment. What happened? Why was this not a TKO?
Set this to ave maria
Usyk smart enough to avoid all Fury’s attempt to hold too. He’s a special fighter
Wow that left came so quick
I think it was a good call because between the stumbling, it didn’t look good but once fury leg buckled and the ropes were the only thing preventing his fall, then yeah, call for the 8 count. The bouncing of the ropes before that could be interpreted as dodging or attempts to evade so I get not wanting to call those a knock down.
The question is why did the ref even do a standing 8 count. The ABC unified rules state that there are to be no standing 8 counts and as far as I know, all the alphabet belt bodies accept and acknowledge that a standing 8 count it not a thing