British middleweight Billy Joe Saunders has been left seething after his close friend Tyson Fury was “robbed” of a fairytale comeback in his WBC heavyweight title fight against Deontay Wilder in LA on Sunday morning.
Fury seemingly outboxed his strap-holding opponent at the Staples Centre, despite being dropped twice during the fight, but was controversially adjudged to have fought out a split decision by the judges at ringside.
‘The Gypsy King’ celebrated like the winner of the fight after the final bell and appeared crestfallen as his hand was raised along with Wilder’s by the referee.
Saunders will surely be crestfallen, too, as he had placed a pretty meaty wager on his friend becoming a world champion before the fight. The fighter had strolled into a Ladbrokes shop and filmed himself staking £70k on Fury winning the bout at odds of 11/8.
The aggrieved title challenger himself was gracious in the aftermath of the fight but has since been more forthright.
"It's stuff like this that gives boxing a bad name. All the media will report bad stuff. Everyone in boxing saying a bad thing, time and again we see it. He needs banning from boxing forever,” he said yesterday.
"The world knows who the real WBC champion is. Wilder had a gift decision in his own country. He must be thanking his lucky stars he still has the green and gold belt as that belt belongs to me."
But Saunders was less forgiving, tweeting after the fight about the ‘robbery’ that had taken place and later questioning the integrity of the sport itself.
