- Oleksandr Usyk beat Tyson Fury via split decision after an enthralling fight
- However, Fury and his camp’s conduct in Saudi left a bad taste in the mouth
- The Gypsy King’s mental health issues don’t excuse his behaviour
Let me address the elephant in the room, sympathy for Tyson Fury this morning is thin on the ground.
I always love the Brit to win but there is a growing amount of people who follow our sport that are happy he didn’t. And you have to ask, why is that?
There is a responsibility that comes with being a world champion and how Tyson and his entourage conduct themselves in the build-up to a fight leaves me cold. It’s thuggish, it’s rude and it can’t be excused as big fight showmanship any more.
Like it or not, British sports fans are still viewed around many parts of the world as hooligans and the antics shown by people close to Tyson do nothing to dispel that.
They are representing our sport, our country, they are part of him, a world champion. Yet it comes to a point where I find myself saying ‘You’re a great fighter but you know what? This is not on, we’ve had enough.’
Tyson’s story as an underdog, who has battled his mental demons to get back on the road to recovery and rise to being a champion is a bestseller. It has warmed the hearts of people who don’t necessarily follow boxing.
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He has made enough money now for his family and all his descendants to live comfortably for life but what’s it worth when you tarnish a legacy in this way?
People are scared to criticise for fear of being insensitive because of Tyson’s mental issues. That shouldn’t excuse his behaviour.
Like many fighters, he can spiral into depression. You can often feel alone.
Muhammad Ali, Anthony Joshua so many more have had to conquer it. But that doesn’t mean you let standards drop. Tyson is a clever man; he can surely see it. Nobody is telling him to put this behaviour in check.
My trainer Brendan Ingle used to say to me, boxing at its worst can be ‘a dirty, rotten prostituting game’ and at its best can be the greatest sport in the world.
Tyson is the entertainment but around him it is a money making business masquerading as sport.
He has lost to the man he once described as a ‘gap-toothed, blown up middleweight’ and he shouldn’t have done because he had gained control.
Whether it was down to complacency or fitness, Tyson shouldn’t have allowed Oleksandr Usyk back in after round seven.
He was having great success on the front foot, jabbing, finding the uppercut, leaning in but he overcooked the boxing against ‘the boxer’ then showboated when he was nowhere near the finish line.
You showboat to say, ‘I’m better than you, I’m in control’, all it did was give Usyk a chance to step back and consider a different approach.
Tyson’s head will be fried this morning just watching how he got clipped and hurt so badly in round nine.
It was worse than his knockdown against Deontay Wilder because he had gone. The referee did him a favour because his body was limp, it was like trying to hold water in your hand.
I told you all on Saturday that I had a dream where Tyson was telling me he had won and that it was in controversial circumstances.
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I deciphered that as him winning the fight, but I may have to fine tune how I read my dreams from now on.
However, you saw the fight though, it was a heart on the line achievement for Usyk and the best man won.
Putting politics aside, the money of Saudi Arabia is the reason such big fights are happening and it is the reason we will see more opportunities for Tyson, Usyk and Anthony Joshua.
I know Tyson says he will take the contracted rematch, but I do question whether they are only words. He will be devastated by this loss.
Once he has digested it and the fall-out, I wonder if he’ll have the motivation.
Maybe my words will motivate him but if he comes again, I just hope he does things the correct way for a champion.