John Fury believes Oleksandr Usyk is being judged too harshly after his difficult win over Rico Verhoeven.
Usyk retained his WBC, WBA and IBF heavyweight titles last month with an 11th-round stoppage, but the performance divided opinion. Verhoeven had success throughout the fight, was ahead on one judge’s card after 10 rounds, and the other two cards were level at 95-95.
Fury argued that Verhoeven was never the easy opponent some made him out to be. “He’s a 6ft 6in athlete, trains like a demon, strong as a bull, and game as a badger,” Fury said. “World champion kickboxer. I don’t know who said he had no chance.”
He also pointed to Usyk’s size disadvantage at heavyweight, reminding critics that the Ukrainian moved up from cruiserweight and continues to beat much bigger men. “You’ve got to give Usyk credit because he’s only a cruiserweight blowing up,” Fury said. “He just seems to get the job done.”
Fury did question the controversial ending, saying Verhoeven’s corner should have had the chance to decide whether he could continue into the final round. Verhoeven has since called for a rematch, but Usyk has also been ordered by the WBC to face mandatory challenger Agit Kabayel.
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