Despite looking just moments away from felling the giant ‘Gypsy King’ in a sensation ninth round in their undisputed world heavyweight title fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday night, newly-crowned champ Oleksandr Usyk isn’t upset with referee Mark Nelson.
In a stunning round of boxing, Usyk connected with a huge left hook in the latter part of the round (and several ensuing follow-up shots) which sent the previously-unbeaten Fury cascading across the ring before Nelson adjudged him the sequence to have been a knockdown — despite Fury remaining on his feet. Nelson initiated a count with less than ten seconds remaining in the round, effectively ensuring that — as long as Fury could respond — he would see the tenth.
Afterwards, Usyk’s promoter, Alex Krassyuk, suggested that the referee had “robbed” Usyk of the knockout against Fury which he said would have come just seconds later had the referee not opted to intervene.
But speaking in the post-fight presser in Saudi Arabia, Usyk said that he isn’t concerned by the manner of his victory. “Because we are the winner. I don’t think about it. Because we have the win. No knockout, no problem. But [now] it’s a big drama.”I don’t think about it,” he told the media, including The Mac Life.
“No, I don’t worry,” Usyk responded when asked about the judging (Fury had maintained afterwards that he was the rightful winner). “I don’t know why. Because I believe that I won. I do good work. I don’t worry.”
You can watch Usyk’s full post-fight comments in the video above.
