Eddie Hearn Says Ref Made Right Call Not Stopping Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury

Promoter Eddie Hearn has no problem with referee Mark Nelson not stopping the Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury fight.

Hearn had no bias in the fight as he didn’t promote either fighter, so in the ninth round, he believes Nelson made the right call by not stopping. Fury was badly rocked and looked out on his feet, and Hearn praised Nelson for not stopping the fight.

“I think there are a lot of British referees on British soil that would’ve stopped that fight,” Hearn said on The MMA Hour. “He [Fury] literally covered every millimeter of that ring, staggering. I don’t mind Mark Nelson’s play right there. I do feel like he gave a lot of time to Tyson Fury. Not just in a count, but particularly afterward… I think [Nelson] was right in what he did.”

Ultimately, Hearn agreed with the decision, but he was surprised by how exciting the fight was.

Going into the unified heavyweight title fight, Eddie Hearn didn’t think it would be exciting, but he was pleased with how good of a fight it is.

“I didn’t think the fight would be stylistically that good,” said Hearn. “Both guys have great feet, great movement, and great ring IQ. When you combine those qualities in a big fight of that magnitude, sometimes it can be a bit cagey.”

With Usyk getting the win, Fury will likely trigger his rematch clause for the bout to happen sometime later this year, in what will be another highly-anticipated bout.