UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping reacts to Oleksandr Usyk’s split decision victory over Tyson Fury.
Usyk and Fury did battle for the right to be called the undisputed heavyweight champion of boxing. While Fury appeared to be gaining steam at the halfway point, Usyk had other ideas. In the ninth round, Fury was sent stumbling into the ropes from a barrage of punches before the referee ruled a knockdown. From that point on, Fury was never the same and Usyk scored a split decision victory.
In Bisping’s mind, the game planning of team Usyk was top-notch.
Michael Bisping Praises Oleksandr Usyk for Game Plan Against Tyson Fury
In a new video posted on his YouTube channel, Michael Bisping shared why he felt Oleksandr Usyk found success against Tyson Fury.
“I don’t really know if Tyson Fury can get in better shape than he was,” Bisping said. “That was a furious pace and maybe Oleksandr Usyk was willing to lose a couple of rounds on the scorecards by pressuring so much to get Tyson Fury tired in the later rounds. If that’s what he was doing, if that was kind of the game plan to lose a couple of close rounds to force the action out of Tyson Fury then that was absolutely genius game planning because that’s essentially what we saw.”
Bisping also recapped the moment that changed the fight in round nine.
“Oleksandr Usyk landed that left hand to the head, followed it up, had Tyson Fury wobbled all over the place,” Bisping said. “Tyson backing up, trying to get away from him, trying to get space and Usyk would just not let off. Right at the end of round nine, boom. Kind of drops him, gets saved by the ropes, the referee steps in, gives him a count, and as soon as he came back from the count that was the end of the round.”
A rematch clause means fans will soon get to see “The Gypsy King” and Usyk throw leather inside the ring again.
Here’s the full Usyk vs. Fury reaction video from Michael Bisping: