Jay Obitaya says he would have liked to see Tyson Fury do more in his loss to unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk on December 21 in Riyadh. He was hoping that former WBC champion Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs) would show a “different version” of himself in the rematch with Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs), but he couldn’t do it.
Fury, 36, was different from the first fight. He was much worse off and looked like he wasn't trying hard to win the fight. It's possible that Fury, with his Fagin look approved from Oliver Twist, is afraid of being fired. So, he played it safe and didn't show Fagin's cruel and cunning traits to manipulate his way to victory.
The scores were 116-112 x 3 for Usyk. As in the first fight, Fury refuses to accept his defeat and complains that he deserves to win. He made a mess of himself in the post-fight press conference, saying: “I believe until the day I die that he won the battle.“It's too bad his promoters didn't muzzle him to shut him down. He looked like a classic example of a bad sport in absolute denial. I scored it 118-110 for Usyk. And it wasn't even close.
Obitaya analysis
“I wanted a different version of Fury. I wanted him to do more, but I think it was the same kind of thing. Usyk is just an animal. He's a beast,” Jay Obitaya said. Trampling groundin response to Oleksandr Usyk's win over Tyson Fury in their rematch on December 21.
“He's a little bunny. He just doesn't stop. It's hard to beat a great fighter like him. You have to take your hat off to Usyk because you can't fake this stuff. It's hard work to be able to box like that for 12 rounds. That's hard work.” So, you have to be able to respect that.
“If it happens, it happens. I'm always open to it,” Obitaya said when asked if he would be interested in fighting Usyk if he returned to the cruiserweight division. “I would never drop a fight like that. It's a fight I would take with both hands 100 percent.”
There was nothing Fury could do to win the rematch. What he needed was a working time machine to bring back a young 2015 version of himself to participate in the Battle of Usyk. This old version can't do that.
“Right now, I'm focused on eighth place. I've got work to do. Let's get it done,” Obitaya said of his title defense against IBF No. 10 ranked contender David Nica.
