Tyson Fury on Loss to Oleksandr Usyk: “That's what happens when you're too excited.”

Written by: Sean Crose

“It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be,” Tyson Fury said recently Furocity a podcast. He was talking about the man who beat him the first time, Oleksandr Usyk. Although Usyk won the decision, he nearly put the top Fury down at one point in their 12-round knockout of the heavyweight champion. It doesn't matter. Fury said he lost to a talented Ukrainian player because he may have had a better time.

“I was lighting him with three, four combinations, laughing at him,” said Fury. “My problem in that fight, maybe I was too happy. It was probably too easy. Sometimes, it was very easy.” Fury, who has a history of making eyebrow-raising statements, certainly had his moments in the fight with Usyk. Indeed, it looks like he can just get away from his opponent with his jab and his fluidity. However, Usyk was not about to let his dream of becoming the undisputed heavyweight champion disappear overnight in Saudi Arabia.

Fury, however, feels that it was more about his losing than Usyk's winning. “It was like I was there with a local novice boxer,” he continued, “and I was really enjoying it, kicking myself out…that's what happens when you're having too much fun.” Although Fury is sometimes considered too entertaining outside the ring, no one has ever accused him of letting a victory slip away. Then again, the man had never lost a single fight before meeting Usyk.

Fortunately for Fury, he has a rematch with Usyk scheduled for December in Saudi Arabia. “I have to get him out of there,” he said of Usyk, “because I won't get a decision, which is unfortunate because it's hard to win a fight just by winning it, don't worry about knowing it.” “You have to get someone out.”

Team Usyk, of course, is taking Fury's words with a grain of salt. Usyk was very effective in the first (and so far, only) fight. Despite what Fury might say, the two-division kingpin (Usyk was the undisputed cruiserweight champion before moving up to heavyweight) didn't fight like a “local rookie” in the first fight. Fury knows as well. That is why there is no doubt that Fury will go into the rematch knowing how big the challenge is.

“But I'm confident,” said Fury, “and I'm looking forward to the challenge.”