Sky Sports Boxing's Johnny Nelson has questioned the future of Tyson Fury: "What more can he do? How can he improve from that? This defeat would have done his head in and his heart in."; Fury suffered the first loss of his career as he was beaten via split decision by Oleksandr Usyk
Sunday 19 May 2024 18:55, UK
Johnny Nelson believes Tyson Fury could walk away from boxing after losing out to Oleksandr Usyk in the pair's fight for the undisputed world heavyweight championship on Saturday night.
Fury suffered a split decision loss as he relinquished his WBC belt and undefeated record, with Usyk becoming the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era.
The Gypsy King was given a standing count during a brutal and eventually decisive ninth round that saw Fury saved by the bell after finding himself on the receiving end of a vicious Usyk assault.
He later disputed the fight decision and underlined his desire for a rematch later this year.
"I think Tyson Fury will be devastated at the result of that," said Sky Sports Boxing's Nelson.
"Tyson's team will have serious conversations about motivating him after this and get his mind back.
"Don't be surprised if Tyson walks away from this.
"What more can he do? How can he improve from that? This defeat would have done his head in and his heart in."
Usyk started the brighter of the two as he claimed the opening rounds, before Fury restored control of the fight when he began to find joy with shots to the body of the Ukrainian at the mid-way point.
A fierce left hand from Usyk would then leave his opponent with a bloodied nose, followed by a defining flash-point in the ninth round when Mark Nelson ruled a knockdown after Fury was held up by the ropes in the corner of the ring after Usyk's attack.
"Usyk started smart, Tyson decided to showboat and say 'I'm better than you' rather than showing he's better than him," added Nelson.
"He'll regret the showboating, but maybe at the same time it was him trying to hustle and get the better of Usyk. For the first quarter Usyk did the right thing, then Tyson started to find the measure of himself, find the length.
"Tyson was basically on the back foot the entire time, the times when he put his foot down and pushed Usyk were the times when he had the successes.
"He lost belief in that, what do you do? There's the showboating. You can be busy looking good, but you going to lose while you do it."
Nelson suggested Fury's showboating might have 'lost him the fight' by allowing Usyk to continue coming forward on the front foot despite the pressure to his body.
"When you see him go forward, using his power and height, his reach, that's when he was controlling Usyk, hurting him," said Nelson.
"Complacency kicked in, it's him thinking 'I'm king, you come to me'. Tyson was trying to hustle his way through the pressure, and Usyk was consistent from the off.
"Win the first three, lose the next three, but still kept the pressure on Fury. Whenever Tyson put his foot down and had pressure, it's when he had success."
Usyk underlined his credentials for greatness as he weathered the Fury storm to let his elite skills prevail yet again, earning his crowning moment as a two-weight undisputed champion following his success at cruiserweight.
"Usyk kept the pressure up and as it got into the championship rounds he started to land clean with that left hand," Nelson continued.
"Tyson showed his heart, his guts, but he was gone, he switched off and the ropes saved him. Realistically, even when Deontay Wilder hit him he wasn't that bad.
"Usyk kept the pressure on and towards the end the showboating lost Fury the fight.
"The right man deservedly won. I know Tyson Fury said he believed he won, I don't know if that's a hustle, but he didn't win."
Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk had an epic battle for the undisputed heavyweight world titles. Book the repeats on Sky Sports Box Office now.
