Referee used little-known boxing rule during Tyson Fury's defeat to Oleksandr Usyk

Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury to become the undisputed heavyweight champion but a controversial refereeing call caused a stir on social media.

The Ukrainian took home a split decision victory against the Brit after an enthralling 12-round bout in Saudi Arabia.

Fury’s undefeated record was ended as Usyk became the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999, though he won’t hold that title for long as he is set to be stripped of the IBF title which is due to be on the line for overdue mandatory challenger Filip Hrgovic who faces Daniel Dubois on June 1.

Usyk almost left the judges out of it in the ninth round when he had Fury out of his feet, landing a lightning-quick left hook to leave his opponent stumbling against the ropes.

Referee Mark Nelson gave Fury every opportunity to recover from the blows but was criticised on social media for giving the 37-year-old an eight-count as Usyk looked to finish the fight.

Arguably the fight could have been stopped at that moment but Fury was able to recover at the end of the round and survived the entirety of the fight after regaining his senses.

The referee’s decision wasn’t only questioned by fans but also fighters and Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn was left stunned that people had little knowledge of the eight-count rule.

When asked whether he thought the fight should have been stopped by BoxNation, he said: “I tell you what is quite funny, the amount of people, fighters, who don’t even know the rules about the ropes holding you up.

“I saw so many fighters saying ‘it’s ridiculous, he didn’t go down and you still gave him a count’.

“When the ropes stop you from going down, the ref can give an eight-count. It’s not a standing eight-count. It’s effectively a knockdown because the ropes have stopped you from falling over.

“He went all around the ring Fury, it was unbelievable, I can’t believe he didn’t actually go over.

“I believe in the UK, there are a lot of refs that would have jumped in but I think he made the right decision not jumping in. In an undisputed heavyweight world championship fight, I think the referee did a great job.

“I think everything was a bit slow about the count but then the bell went. I thought Fury recovered really well.”

Round nine was scored 10-8 in Usyk’s favour by all three judges after the referee’s intervention.

According to the Association of Boxing Commissions unified rules, there is no standing eight-count and the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO title fights do not allow the standing eight-count.

An eight-count will be called if a fighter is knocked down and being ‘down’ includes the ropes preventing you from falling to the canvas according to the British Boxing Board of Control’s official rules.

While it was a controversial decision, the referee was well within his right to intervene and could have prevented serious damage to Fury.

The rematch is expected to take place in October.