Tyson Fury loses to Oleksandr Usyk after brutal knockdown costs him in heavyweight unification fight

The hotly anticipated fight attracted some of the world’s biggest stars with Cristiano Ronaldo, Steven Gerrard, Ryan Garcia and Anthony Joshua among those in attendance.

But the Gypsy King took nothing for granted in his preparations for the fight as he slimmed down drastically to his lightest weight in five years.

Some concerns were raised on whether Fury had lost too much of his huge size advantage over the more diminutive Usyk.

There was no sign of nerves from either fighter as they entered the ring late into the night before the bell finally rang to get the fight underway.

Usyk took the initiative in the opening round as he controlled the centre of the ring with Fury attempting to laugh off the Ukrainian’s accurate blows.

The Gypsy King was on the back foot again to start the second round as Usyk landed a huge one-two and continued pushing Fury back into the corners.

Fury began to look more a bit comfortable in the middle rounds as he began to land more body shots and stepped forward more often.

He continued playing up to the crowd and teasing Usyk and that appeared to grate at the Ukrainian boxer, who had a noticeable cut above his eye in the fifth round.

The teasing stopped in the sixth round as Fury sensed a possible stoppage after landing some big blows that rocked Usyk.

Oleksandr Usyk was visibly emotional after his win

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But Usyk turned the tables in the eighth round with a huge left hand drawing blood from Fury’s nose with the bout evenly matched.

Fury’s eye, where he suffered the cut that postponed the original fight, also began to swell up as Usyk began to step forward once more.

The turning moment came in the very next round though when Usyk had Fury out on his feet with a huge left hand leaving his opponent staggering around the ring.

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It was ruled a knockdown as Fury stood their motionless in the corner but he was saved by the bell.

That moment turned the fight in Usyk’s favour with Fury in need of doing something special to turn it around.

The Gypsy King showed heart in continuing in the fight after the knockdown and troubled Usyk in the final few rounds, but it wasn’t enough in the end.