A bruised Tyson Fury speaks to the media after his defeat to Oleksandr Usyk. Photo: Getty Images/Richard Pelham
Tyson Fury will have to think long and hard about his future after the first defeat of his 16-year career and may even consider retirement while he spends time with his pregnant wife Paris , once at home in Morecambe.
For the 35-year-old, a mystery arises. -one-year-old. What's next? Engage in another deep and difficult battle? Revenge in a rematch? Leave with your health intact and millions in your account? Or fight for another £80 million and fix the situation?
It is suspected that the “Gypsy King” will be lured back into a rematch with Oleksandr Usyk once the dust settles from the painful defeat. But there is something to think about. When Fury and his team analyze a fight and look back at it from a forensic perspective, there is a lot to take away from it, some positive, some negative.
Fury dominated six rounds of the fight and the consensus around the ring at the time worried Usyk and whether he could maintain the Briton's dominance in the battle of skills. But Fury, by his own admission, began to enjoy himself there. Comfort and confidence, oddly enough, were his undoing in the second half of the fight.
However, it was in the ninth round that signs of age began to show, and Fury's chin and ability to recover were simply stunning. Make no mistake. It was a close fight, won thanks to the brilliant skill of Usik in the last four rounds.
Fury received several strong blows from Usik Photo: Getty Images/Mohammed Saad
If Fury can win the second meeting – and there were three rounds in this fight that could have gone either way – the Briton would have unified at least three belts and his legacy as a leading heavyweight could be cemented once again. Insiders in Fury's camp have told me that the pots of gold are no longer important and that may affect Fury, but his pride as a fighter will, in my opinion, keep him coming back for a second meeting with 'The Cat'.
It's unlikely that all the belts will be there in five months. The IBF wants its belt back and back in circulation, and politics and sanctioning bodies may clash again – an issue Turki Al Alsheikh is keen to combat by fighting the best against the best as often as possible.
However However, Usik's victory elevates the Ukrainian into the pantheon of greats, given his emergence from the heavyweight division, and even puts Anthony Joshua's two losses to Usik in a different perspective.
The fight also sealed an era, ending at least one of the two fights between Usyk and Fury. It was an epic, thrilling, thrilling contest worthy of the first undisputed Blue Riband division fight in a quarter of a century.
But there was a cloud hanging over the all-British clash we so desired. long. If anything, this outcome has pushed the Fury-Joshua fight even further back, and there are people close to Fury who believe that one more fight should be enough after tough fights with Deontay Wilder, Francis Ngannou and Usyk.
Time waits for no one and Fury's loyal camp and family will be urging the heavyweight not to stick around too long.
The next 12 to 18 months will mark the end of an era. Usyk, Fury, Wilder and Joshua are all well into their 30s. There won't be a clear leader emerging after them, and not anytime soon: 19-year-old Briton Moses Ithauma, who was at Saturday's party, took a year or two to become one of the standard-bearers.
Saturday night was a very important moment for the division because it was number 1 against number 2, and now Usyk is the king. Time will tell whether the Ukrainian will remain there.
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