CNN
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Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury in his highly anticipated rematch and defended his unified world heavyweight title on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The pair fought for the first time in May of this year, with Usyk winning via split decision.

This was the first defeat of Fury’s career and the British boxer immediately called for a rematch, laying the foundation for a repeat of the heavyweight duel at the box office.

Fury was criticized for his approach in the first fight and looked much better in the rematch at Kingdom Arena.

“The Gypsy King” made even more use of his height advantage as he tried to keep the smaller, faster Usyk at bay.

But as can be seen at many points in his career, the Ukrainian always seems to get stronger as Usyk’s opponents tire.

In the later rounds he gained control of the fight and as Fury began to run out of steam, Usyk took advantage. Overall, Usyk landed 179 of 423 punches thrown (42%), a much higher percentage than Fury, who landed 144 of his 509 punches thrown (28%), according to the AP.

As the fight neared its end, Fury attempted to land a decisive blow to end the fight, but Usyk thwarted the 36-year-old’s efforts.

The Ukrainian won the fight 116-112 on all three judges’ scores – much to the displeasure of the Fury camp.

“I was pretty confident, I fought and won that fight again,” Fury told reporters after losing the second fight of his career.

“I thought I won both fights, but then again I went home with two losses now, so there’s not much I can do about it… I’ll always believe until the day I die that I won that fight.”

Fury admitted that this can happen in the world of boxing and that he wouldn’t “cry over spilled milk”, but the former heavyweight champion claimed he felt hit hard.

Fury, who stepped into the ring to Mariah Carey’s Christmas hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You” and dressed like Santa Claus, said the win must have been an early Christmas present for Usyk.

“I felt a little Christmas spirit and I think he got a little Christmas present from the judges. Christmas present early.”

When asked if Usyk was the best boxer he had ever faced, Fury also responded defiantly.

“Not really being fair. “He didn’t hurt me once in that fight there,” Fury said.

Frank Warren, Fury’s promoter, was equally surprised by the decision.

“I’m amazed at how a score like this can be, it’s terrible,” Warren told reporters.

Usyk responded by calling Warren a “crazy man” after saying he must be blind too.

He added that he now wanted to “rest,” turned off his phone, “didn’t want to think about boxing… and just wanted to play with my kids.”