Tyson Fury bizarrely blames his defeat by Oleksandr Usyk on the fight being 'too easy' and having 'too much fun'

Tyson Fury has bizarrely blamed his split-decision defeat by Oleksandr Usyk on having 'too much fun', insisting he felt like he was in the ring with a 'local amateur boxer' in Saudi Arabia.

Usyk became the first undisputed world champion of the four-belt era, stripping Fury of his WBC title to write his name into the history books as one of boxing's all-time greats.

Fury had the upper hand midway through the fight after a few closely contested opening rounds, but Usyk mounted a formidable comeback in the latter stages, dramatically claiming a 10-8 advantage in round nine by landing a series of blows on the Gypsy King as he stumbled against the ropes.

On the judges' cards, two scored the bout 115-112 and 114-113 in favour of Usyk, while the third had it down as 114-113 to Fury, handing the Ukrainian a split-decision victory.

Speaking to Furocity in his first interview since the loss in Riyadh, the 35-year-old boxer claimed he was having 'too much fun' because the fight was 'too easy' — and ultimately paid the price.

'It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be, the Usyk fight,' Fury said.

'People saying he's a hard man to hit. I was lighting him up with three or four punch combinations, laughing at him. 

'My problem in that fight was I probably had too much fun. It was probably too easy. At times, it was too easy. It was like I was in there with a local amateur boxer. 

'I was just enjoying it too much and messing around and paid the ultimate price in Round 9 where I got a 10-8 round and got clipped. And that's what happens when you have too much fun. 

'And they always tell me, "Never mix your work with having fun". I always give them the middle finger but it's come back now to me, hasn't it?'

As each fighter probed for an opening in the early rounds, Fury enjoyed showboating in front of the crowd, attempting to get under Usyk's skin.

Standing in the corner of the ring, the Gypsy King intentionally let down his guard to taunt and mock the Ukrainian before continuing on with the fight.

Fury's rematch against Usyk will take place on December 21 at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, having initially been expected two months earlier in October.