Lennox Lewis criticizes Fury for bad approach in Usyk fight

Boxing legend Lennox Lewis has criticized Tyson Fury’s strategy in his split-decision loss to Oleksandr Usyk, suggesting that Fury’s approach cost him the fight. The bout, which took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, saw Usyk become the first undisputed heavyweight champion in the four-belt era after defeating Fury, who lost both his WBC title and his undefeated record.

Lewis, who was the last undisputed heavyweight champion before this historic match on Saturday, shared his thoughts on DAZN, stating, “Fury was boxing like he won the fight. No boxer can judge and say they won the fight. Every time a round was close they should look at it like a loss.” He emphasized that Fury’s complacency and misjudgment of the close rounds contributed to his defeat.

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The fight was tightly contested, with two judges scoring in favor of Usyk, while one judge had it 114-113 for Fury. The pivotal rounds eight, nine, and ten were all awarded to Usyk, as he staged a late comeback, particularly evident with Fury receiving a standing 10 count in the ninth round, where the bell saved him from what could have been a knockout.

Fury expressed his confidence post-fight, believing he was ahead on the scorecards. He explained, “I was having fun in there. I was playing around. I was loving it. I thought I was bossing the fight. If my corner would have said in the final round, go out and finish it, I would have – but we all thought we were up.” Despite feeling he had dominated the early rounds, Fury admitted, “In the first six rounds he maybe nicked one of them. It was close and I tried my best. I came up short.”