"It was deserved!" The former world champion from Russia admired Usyk's victory over Fury

Former world heavyweight champion Denis Lebedev called the victory of Oleksandr Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) over Tyson Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) in the May 18 fight a well-deserved one. The Russian noted that the Ukrainian has done a great job and is now among the best boxers in history.

Lebedev said this in an interview with Sport24. The former boxer from Russia added that Usyk was not much better than Fury, who could not keep up with the activity of our compatriot. The Russian called the Ukrainian's success the result of hard work and perseverance.

"The fight was deservedly given to Usyk! Sasha was a little bit better than Tyson. Probably, today Usyk is the best heavyweight in the history of boxing. He is a hard worker who earned everything with his labor – all his victories and all his respect. We know how much Sasha has worked and waited, how long he has been going for this. Now Usyk has become what he wanted to become," Lebedev said.

Usyk defeated Fury by a split decision – 115:112, 113:114, 114:113. After the fight, the British fighter called the war in Ukraine one of the reasons for his defeat. Tyson also expressed his desire to visit Ukraine.

At the same time, referee Mark Nelson's decision to score Tyson a knockdown in the ninth round drew criticism from experts. Usyk was hospitalized immediately after the fight.

World lightweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko (18-3, 12 KOs) reacted to his compatriot's victory in three words. In Russia, the Ukrainian's triumph was called a victory for "the entire Slavic people."

It became known that Usyk would lose the title of absolute world champion by early summer. This decision made the British Tony Bellew furious.

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