Tyson Fury sparks backlash, blames loss to Usyk on Ukraine war

Former heavyweight champ Tyson Fury has sparked widespread backlash over comments he made in the wake of his first career loss.

Tyson Fury has been called out over comments he made in the ring in the wake of his first career loss at the hands of Oleksandr Usyk.

Usyk flipped the script on his British rival with a hellacious ninth round and saw his hand raised via split decision (115-112, 113-114, 114-113).

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The Ukrainian enters the record books as the first undisputed heavyweight in the four-belt era, but Fury believed he had won the fight and instantly stated he’d been activating his rematch clause.

“I believe I won that fight, I believe he won a few of the rounds but I won majority of them,” Fury said.

“I believe it was a … what can you do just one of them decisions in boxing. We both put on a good fight, best we could do.”

But it was his reasoning for why he believes he lost the fight that sparked widespread backlash on social media.

“You know, his country is at war so people are siding with the country at war. Make no mistake, I won that fight in my opinion. I’ll be back,” Fury said.

Fury blaming his loss on the Ukrainian war didn’t sit well with boxing fans who quickly vented their anger at the British heavyweight.

One user wrote: “Tyson Fury with the biggest cope I’ve ever heard.”

A second added: “There’s no way Fury just said Usyk won because he is from Ukraine and his country is at war? You can’t be this much of a sore loser.”

A third simply wrote: “What the f**k Tyson Fury.”

A fourth wrote: “That is absolutely disgusting and sore loser mentality.”

Another chimed in: “What am absolute tosser. He’s lucky they gifted him a split decision.”

The punch that changed the fight. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)

As the outrage flows in Fury’s direction, the Usyk camp will celebrate long into the night as the Ukrainian becomes the first heavyweight to hold all the major belts since Lennox Lewis.

Usyk had waited a long time to get his first shot at Fury and he has now shown himself to be the baddest man on the planet.

Usyk was down on the judges’ scorecards mid-way through the fight, but he dominated the later rounds and knocked Fury to the floor in the ninth round.

Usyk, the former undisputed cruiserweight world champion, now joins Terence Crawford and Naoya Inoue as the only three male fighters in the modern era to be unified champions of multiple weight classes.

Usyk is the king of kings. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)

The fight was flipped on its head after Fury was saved by the bell as he collapsed into the ropes at the end of the ninth round.

The champion was rocked by a combo punch from Usyk and the stumbled around the ring as he was barely able to stay on his feet.

After crashing into the ropes for a second time, Fury’s fall was ruled to be a knock down, stopping Usyk in his tracks.

A DAZN boxing commentator said the world had “never seen” Tyson Fury so beaten up before.

“I’ve seen him down. I’ve seen him hurt before, but nothing like this,” he said.

“This was incredible.”

Another member of the commentary team said Fury was “completely gone”.

Fury got his legs back underneath him and as the fight entered the final round he came out strong, but his last burst didn’t do enough to convince the judges.

The boxing world will now wait to find out just when the rematch will take place.

Originally published as Tyson Fury sparks backlash, blames loss to Usyk on Ukraine war