Oleksandr Usyk was robbed of an emphatic knockout of Tyson Fury in the ninth round of their epic heavyweight title fight, claims David Haye.
The moment of the fight came after Usyk had shifted the momentum, landing a stunning left hand to scatter Fury’s senses and send him bouncing from rope to rope.
Somehow he managed to stay on his feet while Usyk chased him, attempting to land the killer blow.
But the referee Mark Nelson called a knockdown with Fury on the rope, which he was entitled to do, giving him a standing count, though Haye and Usyk’s manager Krassyuk thought the ref got it wrong.
Haye told TNT Sports: ‘If Fury was doing that to Usyk it would have been stopped. The referee stopped him and his opportunity.
‘Then gave him 20 seconds to completely recover. It looked really bad from ringside. Even Fury fans said, “thanks ref.”‘
Krassyuk spoke in the aftermath of Usyk’s split decision win over the ‘Gypsy King’ and also argued that Usyk would have finished his opponent if it had not been for the referee stepping in to call a knock down with Fury still upright.
He said: ‘I’m exhausted, 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.
‘It was unbelievable and I hope to see more in the rematch.’
Ultimately, Fury was saved by the bell in the round and was able to regather his senses on his stool, battling on well to the end of the fight.
