Fans believe referee made huge mistake during Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury

Tyson Fury's unbeaten record in boxing came to an end as he relinquished his WBC heavyweight title to Oleksandr Usyk - and fans believe the referee made a mistake midway through the fight.

The Gypsy King was beaten for the first time in his career on a split points decision as the judges sided in favour of Ukrainian Usyk.

Two judges scored the bout 115-112 and 114-113 in Usyk's favour as he claimed victory, while another scored 114-113 to Fury in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

It means Usyk, 37, has become the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the world in almost 25 years, as he now holds all the belts within the division.

Usyk remains undefeated, with a record reading 22 wins from as many fights, 14 of which were by knockout and the remaining eight on decision, including Fury, of course.

For the 35-year-old Manchester-born fighter, his record now stands at 34 wins, one draw and a loss by decision, with 24 of his victories by knockout and 10 by decision.

A rematch is on the cards after it being written into the contract and is tentatively scheduled for October.

However, whether that goes ahead remains to be seen, as comments from both Fury and his promotor Frank Warren in the post-fight press conference appear to cast doubt over that prospect.

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During the ninth round with around 30 seconds remaining, Usyk unleashed several barrages on Fury which rocked him and had him on the ropes at times, before being cornered and the Ukrainian ushered away by the referee.

However, the referee also appeared to intervene several times in the fight at this stage, getting slightly in the way of Usyk and disrupting his rhythm.

And taking to the social media platform X, fans believe the referee's action helped to save Fury from a potential knockout.

@oneintent_ wrote: "Referee saved him. I see patterns with Fury family."

@bt250x posted: "The ref trying to help Fury as much as possible just like the one did in the Garcia fight. The Ref should’ve ended it but he probably had money on it & was told do not stop it if Fury is in trouble no matter what."

Ajayi Samson wrote: "The ref saved him, he didn’t survive it on his own."

@peyton8x posted: "The ropes saved him."

@JerichoXVI wrote: "A better question is why didn't the referee stop the fight because Fury was basically defenseless and taking big shots while offering nothing back or a move to avoid the pummeling he was taking?"