Oleksandr Usyk broke down into tears in an emotional post-fight press conference after becoming the only man ever to beat Tyson Fury. The 37-year-old claimed a split decision victory in the Middle East after only narrowly missing out on a stunning ninth-round knockout of the Gypsy King.
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Usyk is the first man ever to be undisputed heavyweight champion with all four belts. The last undisputed king was Lennox Lewis way back in 1999 in the three-belt era.
And after his historic triumph, the Ukrainian began talking about his late father. Usyk's dad died just days after he won Olympic gold at London 2012.
Usyk said that his late dad, also called Oleksandr and who fought for the Soviet army in Afghanistan, visited him in his dreams before he took on Fury in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Usyk said: "Last time when my father saw me was in my dreams. I miss my father and I said to him 'hey listen, you live there and I live here, please don't come for me, I love you.'"
"For me it is hard when my father comes back to me because I remember all life," Usyk added while visibly emotional and wiping away tears from his eyes. |I know he is here, maybe sitting out there [in the press room]."
Usyk was then escorted out of the press conference by his promoters. His opponent Fury had earlier controversially suggested in the ring that Russia's invasion of Ukraine played a part in the judges' scoring.
He said: "We both put on a good fight. His country is at war, so people are siding with the country at war. Make no mistake, I won that fight in my opinion. We run it back in October. Well done Oleksandr."
After the interviews in the ring, Fury claimed in his press conference: "As you can see by my face, I'm pretty busted up. And he has gone to the hospital with a broken jaw so he's busted too. We punched the f*** out of each other for 12 rounds there!"
The Ukrainian is now 22-0 and was also the unbeaten undisputed cruiserweight champion. Usyk said afterwards when asked about a potential rematch in mid-October: "I don't think about boxing now, please.
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"My camp started in September 2023, I worked for nine months. I missed Happy New Year, I missed my son's birthday, I missed my other son's birthday, I missed my daughter's birthday and then the birth of my daughter.
"I also missed family holidays. I was only focused on this fight, now I'm happy and I want to go back home." Usyk had stitches above his right eye during his emotional chat with the media.