Interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall has given his opinion on the undisputed heavyweight boxing fight that went down this past Saturday between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.
The fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk was one of the biggest boxing fights to take place in recent memory, with it being the first time in 25 years that an undisputed champion was crowned.
After an impressive first few rounds, Tyson Fury suffered a knockdown in round nine after a barrage of heavy shots from the Ukrainian champion put him on wobbly legs.
Usyk went on to finish the fight incredibly strong and was awarded the split decision win, becoming the first undisputed heavyweight champion in 25 years.
Tom Aspinall reacts to the blockbuster heavyweight fight
Tom Aspinall has trained with Tyson Fury on several occasions, and so was likely rooting for his friend to once again defy the odds in Saudi Arabia.
Despite Fury claiming that he won the fight, Aspinall has shared his brutally honest opinion of the scoring, stating that it was ‘well justified’ that Usyk was awarded the split decision.
“Irrelevant of who you thought won, we won as viewers. I think it was an amazing fight from both guys.” Aspinall told talkSPORT MMA.
“So much skill, so much heart and determination from both guys. If you would’ve asked me who I thought won, it was well justified Usyk won and that’s coming from someone who’s known Tyson for a long time.” Aspinall added.
The 31-year-old would like to see a rematch of the blockbuster fight, with Fury likely to activate the rematch clause in his contract.
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“I think Usyk won it fair and square and I’d like to see a rematch. That’s heavyweight combat sports, to me after the first four rounds, Usyk started to look a bit flat but maybe that was just Usyk taking his foot off the gas.
“Tyson started coming on a bit and then before you know it, Usyk nearly stopped him in the ninth and then it was all downhill for Tyson.” Aspinall stated.
Tom Aspinall seeking advice on preparing for abnormal fight start time
It was recently announced by UFC CEO, Dana White, that the 31-year-old will become only the fourth fighter to defend his interim heavyweight title, as he takes on Curtis Blaydes in the UFC 304 co-main event on July 27th.
Despite the fight being on UK soil, Aspinall will have to wait till around 4am local time until he enters the Octagon.
With that, the interim champion is looking for advice from other fighters who have had to fight at unusual times, as he looks to begin his preparation.
“To be honest, that’s something we’ve not quite figured out yet. I would imagine that for a couple of weeks before we’ll be changing the training time to 4am, I don’t know.
“I want to speak to a few more people who know more about that than I do, maybe (Michael) Bisping, he’s done it, maybe see how Leon (Edwards) is doing it, maybe speak to some doctors or scientists, that kind of thing, we’ll see.” Aspinall admitted.