Tyson Fury has responded after his defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in their heavyweight world title rematch in Saudi Arabia.
British fighter Fury, 36, had hoped to take revenge after his previous defeat to Usyk in May.
The Ukrainian, 37, who had entered the bout as a narrow favourite, retained his WBO, WBC and WBA heavyweight titles with his win at Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena.
But, the fight went to the scorecards with all three judges scoring the fight 116-112 in Usyk’s favour.
“I swear to God, I thought I won it by at least three rounds,” Fury said shortly after the fight.
“I felt a little Christmas spirit in there and I think he got a little Christmas gift from them judges. An early Christmas gift.
“I was confident I had won that fight again. I thought I’d won both fights but then again I’ve gone home with two losses on my record. I will always believe until the day I die that I won that fight.
“I’m not going to cry over spilt milk. It’s happened now.”
Fury left the ring without doing an interview, leaving his promoter Frank Warren to speak on his behalf.
“How can Tyson only get four rounds in this fight? It’s impossible,” Warren told TV network DAZN, adding he thought Fury had won.
“Only four rounds. Each of them gave him four rounds, four different rounds. I’m not saying this because I’m biased, but everyone along the front there all thought it went the same way.
“It’s nuts. It’s nuts, I don’t get it. I’m really disappointed with that. I thought he was in control of the fight and boxed extremely well. Usyk was on the back foot for most of the fight, but it is what it is.”
Usyk became the only man to inflict a professional defeat on Fury when he beat him on points in May, becoming the first boxer to hold all four major heavyweight belts at the same time and the first undisputed champion in 24 years.
But his reign over the four belts ended just a month later when he gave up his IBF belt to fight Fury in a rematch because he was unable to make a mandatory defence against the organisation’s interim belt-holder, Daniel Dubois.
“I win,” Usyk said simply after the fight, “it’s good”.
Usyk celebrates winning his bout. Pic: Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Couldridge
He also paid tribute to Fury.
“He’s a great fighter, a great opponent and it was a great 24 rounds. Unbelievable 24 rounds in my career. Thank you so much,” Usyk said.
Daniel Dubois, the IBF heavyweight title holder, was quick to call for a fight with Usyk following the result.
“I want my revenge,” he told Usyk directly. “Let’s go.”
Usyk and Fury stared at each other for 11 minutes ahead of the fight
Dubois, 27, defended the IBF belt with a fifth-round knockout of fellow British rival 34-year-old Anthony Joshua in October.
He faces Joseph Parker on 22 February and the Usyk win could set up a future fight to unify all of the titles.
Ahead of the bout, Usyk and Fury engaged in a stare-down for more than 11 minutes in a head-to-head press conference on Thursday.
Fury weighed in at a career-high 20 stones 1lbs, while Usyk weighed 16 stones 2lb, the heaviest he has recorded, although both men were fully clothed when they stepped on the scales.