Anthony Joshua believes Tyson Fury was one round away from claiming revenge against Oleksandr Usyk in the pair’s heavyweight world title rematch in Riyadh.
Another classic fight unfolded between the rivals, with the Ukrainian retaining the WBC, WBA and WBO belts after all three judges scored the fight in his favour 116-112.
But Joshua saw a closer fight than judges Gerardo Martinez, Patrick Morley and Ignacio Robles, following late drama to decide the third official.
In fact, had Joshua handed any of rounds three, four, six, seven, eight or 11 to Fury instead, then his result would flip in favour of the Briton’s.
Joshua ultimately only had one point splitting the heavyweights, siding with Usyk 115-114 after 12 rounds.
Fury maintains he won the fight, as he did after the first fight, stating: “I was quite confident, I thought I won that fight again, both fights, but then again I’ve gone home with two losses on my record, not much I can do about it, I’ll believe until the day I die I won the fight.
“I was on the front foot all night, sometimes it’s hard to score. I feel a lot of people scored it 7-5, Frank had me three or four rounds up, I’m not going to cry.
“I’ll always feel a little bit hard done by, not a little bit, a lot, when you don’t get a knockout, you can’t guarantee a win.”
Joshua could meet Fury next in a highly-anticipated meeting between two heavyweights that have defined boxing in Great Britain for a generation.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has already urged Fury to accept a two-fight deal with the first at Wembley Stadium followed by a rematch in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Eddie Hearn: “The reality is, there’s only one fight for Fury: Anthony Joshua. It’s the biggest fight in the history of British boxing.
“It wasn’t a flat performance, it didn’t look like his punch resistance was in question. He might be in the peak of his powers, just not good enough to beat Usyk.
“One at Wembley, then back out for Riyadh Season.”
Anthony Joshua’s scorecard: Usyk vs Fury 2
- R1: Fury
- R2: Fury
- R3: Usyk
- R4: Usyk
- R5: Fury
- R6: Usyk
- R7: Usyk
- R8: Usyk
- R9: Fury
- R10: Fury
- R11: Usyk
- R12: Even