‘It looked really bad’ – David Haye makes bold claim after Oleksandr Usyk denied Tyson Fury KO chance

David Haye believes Tyson Fury was lucky to see the final bell against Oleksandr Usyk.

Usyk and Fury met in a bid to make history and become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999, and it was the Ukrainian who snatched the belts with a split decision win.

Usyk scored a knockdown of Fury, but he managed to cling on until the bell’The Cat’ picked up the decision on the judges’ scorecards, but came extremely close to stopping Fury in the ninth having rocked him into the ropes which saw the ‘Gypsy King’ given a standing count.

Having managed to bite down on his gumshield and survive until the end of the stanza, Usyk narrowly missed out on his opportunity to close the show.

Following the conclusion of the gruelling bout, British boxing icon Haye claimed the fight would have been stopped if it was Fury inflicting the damage on the champion elect.

He said during the TNT Sports broadcast: “If Fury was doing that to Usyk it would have been stopped. The referee stopped him and his opportunity.

Read More Fury vs Usyk’Then gave him 20 seconds to completely recover. It looked really bad from ringside. Even Fury fans said, “thanks ref.”‘

Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk echoed Haye’s sentiments insisting he thought Fury should have not made it to the tenth round.

He said “I’m exhausted, of course I was backing Usyk all fight.

“No disrespect to the referee but I think he stopped a KO in the ninth but anyway it was a tremendous performance.

Fury crashed into the ropes and was counted on his feet

Usyk celebrated despite missing out on the KO, winning by decisionCredit: Getty”It was unbelievable and I hope to see more in the rematch.”

Fury looked a shadow of his slick-moving self and was being battered in the stanza, with referee Mark Nelson certainly taking a close look.

The British heavyweight was only held up by the ropes, and looked visibly dazed when making his way back to his stool.

Although the moment was not to be for a battered Usyk, he still made history and etched his name on the record books alongside Lennox Lewis, who last became undisputed champion 25 years ago.

He wasn’t to be left rueing the opportunity that was taken out of his hands, but will be hoping he can win inside the distance in their planned October rematch.

The referee was in the spotlight, but so were the judges from Fury’s camp, with the former WBC champion suggesting that he had done enough to win the bout.