Promoter Frank Warren has made a slight u-turn on his initial view of the Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk rematch.
The heavyweight stars went toe-to-toe for the second time on December 21 in Riyadh, with the Ukrainian icon picking up his second victory over ‘The Gypsy King’ in what some people felt was a controversial result, including Fury’s promoter Frank Warren.
All three of the official judges scored the contest 116-112 in favour of Usyk as he retained his unified WBA, WBC and WBO heavyweight titles. It was a chance at redemption for Fury, who fell short to a split decision to his heavyweight rival back in May, with the first fight being scored a lot closer than the rematch.
Speaking to BoxNation, Warren claims he has now re-watched the fight for the first time and has admitted he thought the result was a lot narrower than his initial reaction, despite still believing his fighter deserved the victory.
“I still feel that Tyson won it, I think it’s much closer than I thought the first time but I still thought he won it.
I watched it again, and a lot of people involved in the sport who I consider to be quite knowledgeable, and I consider myself to be quite knowledgeable having been doing it for 47 years and guided god knows how many champions in my time, I don’t see how one of the judges did not give Tyson one of the last seven rounds.
It was a close fight, like the first fight. I thought Tyson would be stopping him this time, but it didn’t happen.”
The next steps for both Fury and Usyk are yet to be confirmed, with both men set to weigh up their options in the first few months of 2025.
