David Haye says referee denied Oleksandr Usyk KO win over Tyson Fury – ‘The fight should have been stopped'
Published 19/05/2024 at 02:09 GMT+1
David Haye was critical of the referee for not stopping the undisputed heavyweight fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury in the ninth round and awarding the Ukrainian a knockout win. Usyk rocked Fury with a series of stinging punches but the referee allowed 'The Gypsy King' to carry on and he survived to hear the bell. Usyk was declared the split decision winner after 12 rounds.
Fury v Usyk 'should have been stopped' - Panel agree Gypsy King was lucky to get past round nine
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David Haye said the referee “should have stopped” the fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury in the ninth round when the Ukrainian had The Gypsy King wobbled after a vicious flurry that turned the contest in his favour.
Usyk was on the back foot early in the titanic heavyweight contest in Saudi Arabia but managed to flip the momentum and dazed Fury with a series of pinpoint shots to the head of his opponent.
The referee stepped in to give Fury a count as he stumbled across the ring with just the ropes keeping him upright but Haye believes that was a bad call and denied Usyk the chance to become the undisputed champion in style.
“First and foremost, the fight should have got stopped in the ninth round,” David Haye said on TNT Sports Box Office.
“I don't know why the referee gave a count. I understand they say if the ropes are keeping you up, that means if anybody is on the ropes getting hit the referee should jump in and give you a count.
“I thought the ref should have let him either finish him off or stop the fight. It seemed like a fair and square stoppage from my point of view.
“He was all over the place, he falls over. If it was around the other way, if Tyson Fury was doing this to Usyk the referee would have probably stopped it.
“But for some reason the referee gave him a count and gave him a long 20-second count.
“The referee stopped him from finishing his opportunity. Everybody at ringside was really upset at the referee.”
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'It's a great day' - An emotional Usyk reflects on beating Fury
Video credit: TNT Sports
Haye’s fellow TNT Sports pundit Carl Frampton, added: “We’ve all heard the term, ‘from pillar to post’, not ‘from one side of the ring to the other side of the ring’. How Usyk did that, 40 pounds lighter than Fury, incredible.”
The judges scored the fight in Usyk’s favour via a split decision and the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era dedicated the win to his country in the aftermath.
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But in the first half of the bout, it looked like Usyk had finally met his match. In the early rounds, Fury had the measure of the man nearly 40 pounds lighter and several inches shorter, using his jab to keep the fight on the outside and finding a home for his uppercut.
That’s what made Usyk’s triumph all the more impressive as he handed Fury the first loss of his career.
“I gave Fury rounds four, five and six and it looked like he was running away with it,” Frampton added. “Usyk was hurt to the body, he was hurt to the head with uppercuts, and I made the point, ‘How is he coming back into this?’
“But he dug deep, prideful man, full of bottle. I don’t know how he came back into it, unbelievable performance.”
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‘I believe I won that fight’ – Fury vows he will be ‘back’ for rematch
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