Oleksandr Usyk was able to become the undisputed heavyweight champion last night (18th May). This was due to Oleksandr Usyk defeating Tyson Fury due to a split decision. However, Oleksandr Usyk was brought to tears last night at the post-fight press conference when he spoke about his late father.
Oleksandr Usyk Gets Emotional Following Tyson Fury Win
During the post-fight press conference, Usyk ended up becoming overwhelmed with emotions when speaking about his late father. Oleksander said during the press conference:
“For me it is hard when my father comes back to me because I remember all life. I know he is here, maybe sitting out there [in the press room]. I miss my father,” he said while wiping tears from his face. “I know he’s here.”
Oleksandr Usyk sadly lost his father shortly after winning the gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games. Oleksandr Usyk went on to explain all the sacrifices he has had to make on his journey to become the undisputed heavyweight champion last night:
“Nine months, I worked. I missed Happy New Year. I missed birthday [of] my son. I missed birthday of my other son, too. I missed the birthday of my daughter. I missed [the birth] of my daughter. I missed all of my family holidays. All the time, I was training, training, training. My focus was only this fight. Now, I’m happy. I want to [go] back home, go to my church and pray. I want to say, ‘Jesus, thank you,’ because for me and my country, it was a big opportunity.”
Oleksandr Usyk had Fury hurt in the 9th round and nearly had him finished when he was able to knock him down due to a flurry of punches. At the end of the press conference talked how he felt the referee had saved Tyson Fury from getting knocked out;
“I believe the referee saved Tyson from a knockout and stole the ninth-round knockout, which should have happened. But, no knockout, no problem [we still won].”
Fight Overview
Oleksandr Usyk took on Tyson Fury on the 18th of May, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion in the last twenty-five years.
Uysk was coming into this fight having last competed in August 2023. This was when he was able to knock out Daniel Dubious in the ninth round. This victory came after back-to-back victories against Anthony Joshua. Oleksandr Usyk was able to clinch the WBO, WBA, and IBF titles of Anthony Joshua after the first victory between the two before defending them in the rematch.
Fury was coming into this fight off the back of a highly contested victory against former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. This victory was due to a split decision however, many people had the fight for the former UFC champion. However, Fury walked away with the victory and extended his winning run to 7 after his split draw against Deontay Wilder.
Usyk was able to start strong in the first two rounds. However, Fury was able to get control of the fight, especially in the fifth and sixth rounds. This allowed Fury to seemingly lead the fight on the scorecards at the halfway mark.
However, in the eighth round, Usyk was able to get the swing of the fight back in his favour. This was after the Ukrainian cracked Fury with a powerful left hand which appeared to have busted fury’s nose. Usyk then was able to knockdown Fury in the ninth round with a big shot before pouncing on Fury with a flurry of punches to achieve this knockdown. Even though Fury was able to continue he never seemed to have got the control he once had at the start of the fight.
Official Result: Oleksandr Usyk defeats Tyson Fury via split decision (115-112, 113-114, 114-113)
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
