Tyson Fury suffered his first career defeat back in May when he was outpointed by Oleksandr Usyk.
The two battled it out for the undisputed heavyweight crown and it was the Ukrainian who left the ring with the belts via a split decision on the scorecards.
Fury believes he won the fight and should have had his hand raised, claiming he only gave Usyk three rounds, one of which was a 10-8.
Andy Lee, who is a part of Fury’s training team and was in the corner that night has told IFLTV that the fight was close having rewatched it for the first time.
And when told by Gareth A Davies for talkSPORT boxing that he had scored it 115-113 to Usyk, Lee agreed with that assessment, but said he thought it could have been a draw.
“[I saw it] somewhere along those lines, similar, Tyson cruising up to round nine, then he takes that punch, shows unbelievable courage and bravery to get through it and then sees out the next few rounds then almost wins the last round or two, so it was close.
I thought it could have been a draw but no arguments with Usyk getting the decision.”
Lee went on reveal the impact on Fury’s conditioning having not sparred during camp due to fears that the cut that delayed the original fight date would reopen.
“Fights are won and lost in the ring but they are also won and lost in the training and preparation and because of the rearrangement due to the cut then Tyson couldn’t spar, it takes that conditioning and sharpness away and that ability to concentrate and stay ready and sustain attacks. When Tyson had success he had to ease off and back away and look to rest and rebuild his energy, and it encouraged Usyk to come forward.
How does he win it? He’ll be better conditioned, he’ll be fitter and he’ll be sharper and he’ll be able to sustain his attacks. Tyson can improve a lot from the first fight.”
