JOHN FURY’S headbutt victim “got the last laugh” after posing with a victorious Oleksandr Usyk.
Usyk dethroned John’s son Tyson in Saudi Arabia but only after a frantic fight build up that turned ugly.
Only days before the historic title bout, John headbutted Stanislav Stepchuk, a member of Usyk’s team, in the notoriously strict Saudi region.
Somehow, the former bare-knuckle fighter – once jailed for gauging a man’s eye out – came out worse after causing himself to bleed.
And it only got worse for John as days later son Fury was beaten for the first time to surrender his WBC belt.
Rubbing salt into the wounds, Stepchuk posed with Usyk and the very same belt snatched in the ring from the Fury family.
One fan said: “Stanislav got the last laugh.”
Another added: “The guy that beat John Fury without doing anything.”
Fury, 35, looks set for a shot at redemption against Usyk, 37, after exercising his right to a rematch.
The sequel had been eyed for October but iconic boxing promoter Bob Arum suggested a winter date is now more likely.
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OLEKSANDR USYK is the deserved undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, writes Wally Downes Jr
A great biggun doesn’t always beat a great littleun, not when David has the weight of a besieged nation on his shoulders and is able to swing each compatriot into every punch.
Usyk did what Usyk does, he moved magnificently, he counter punched and he outworked his taller and heavier opponent.
He somehow manages to use every physical disadvantage to his favour.
But what the hell is Fury doing getting up in round nine?
Why is a father-of-eight with £300million in the bank, three best-selling books and a Netflix series going to the well like?
Britain is not fighting back Putin’s army, Morecambe is not occupied.
So when the 35-year-old’s senses are scrambled, when the canvas is calling him, when he is so desperate not to be felled he is willing to bounce around all the ropes like a drunk, when he eventually has to collapse into a corner, why doesn’t he just stay down?
He has earned the right to surrender as well as his millions.
The sheer courage and guts and bloody mindedness it takes to climb off that deck, with a broken nose and a crumbling ego is not comprehensible to us mortals.
Fury said he felt he won the fight but was too dignified to call robbery or corruption, no doubt his dad will taint that decency by the time you’ve read this.
The rematch will be superb.
Because for all the love we have for a resurgent Anthony Joshua – who was ringside for that iconic event – these two polar opposite men are head, shoulders, fists, hearts and brains ahead of everyone else.
There is the top two, then there is a void and then there is the rest.
Read Wally’s big fight verdict in full here…
Arum told Sky Sports: “I know Tyson is anxious for the rematch.
“I think probably it will be in November or December because you can’t do it in October.
“The guys have been training for a whole year and now for them to go back into training makes no sense.
“So I think late November, early December or mid-December would be ideal for the rematch.
“I think the contract provides for Saudi Arabia to do the rematch and the truth is that doing it any place else would be impossible even without the contract because nobody could afford those purses as big a fight as it is.
“And the Saudis are great hosts. I thought the presentation of the event was terrific. So I’m sure the rematch would occur in Saudi Arabia.”
