Promoter Frank Warren has confirmed that Tyson Fury wants the rematch with Oleksandr Usyk next in October.
Warren says he was told yesterday by Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) that he’ll be taking the rematch after losing to the unified heavyweight champion Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) by a 12-round split decision last Saturday night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
As Warren points out, the fight was one of two halves, with the 35-year-old WBC champion Fury getting the better of the action in the first part of the contest and then Usyk coming on from the eighth to sweep the rounds through the eleventh.
Warren feels that Fury won the twelfth round and deserved to be given a narrow win. Two of the judges saw Usyk as the winner, giving him the victory.
Rematch in October
“People are saying is the best, and I understand that and there’s going to be a rematch, and that rematch will be in October. Tyson confirmed that yesterday,” said promoter Frank Warren to BoxNation, confirming that there will be a rematch between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.
“I told him to really think about it before he did it, but he wants it, and he wants it badly. It was a fight of two halves. I thought he was well in front up until the seventh round. At the end of the seventh round, he [Fury] hurt him a couple of times,” said Warren about Fury.
“He [Usyk] slumped back into his seat, got his second wind, and came out. He won every round up until the twelfth round, and one of those was a 10-8 round, the ninth round. It was a close fight, but most people thought Usyk won because he had a more emphatic round with the ninth round.
“I thought Tyson did just enough [to win]. It was the greatest heavyweight fight of this century,” said Warren.
