Boxing
'I thought the fight was a draw!' - Eddie Hearn weighs in on result as Oleksandr Usyk beats Tyson Fury
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Eddie Hearn admits he scored Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury's hotly anticipated rematch as a draw as the former retained his unified heavyweight crown on Saturday in Riyadh.
The Cat earned a points victory by unanimous decision at the Kingdom Arena against the Gypsy King, to keep hold of his WBA, WBC and WBO titles and unbeaten record to boot.
It marked a second career loss for Fury, following his first defeat against Usyk at the same venue in May, and leaves questions over his long-term future in the division.
But speaking afterwards, Matchroom boss Hearn admits that he felt as if the Briton might have had the marginal edge, though he found it difficult to split the two apart in the ring.
"I couldn’t split them," he said on DAZN's post-fight broadcast. "I thought the fight was a draw – I actually had Fury up going into the last round.
"I thought there were so many close rounds, and I do want to see it back. I think Frank [Warren] was right. Most people on our row [of seats] did have it for Tyson Fury.
"I really struggled to split them. It was more of a chess match than [I expected]. Usyk dominated in the second half of the fight, like we said he would, but it was very close.
"I didn’t feel it was an eight-four fight, but one thing that was pleasing was that the judges all had it the same way. All three are high-quality judges.
"I thought it was very close, but consistency from the judges is good to see. I found it difficult to pick a winner."
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