Things may have turned out differently for John McDermott if he had been given the nod against Tyson Fury.

McDermott and Fury squared off in a highly controversial bout for the English heavyweight title at the Brentwood Centre in September 2009.

John McDermott was unlucky not to get his hand raised against Tyson Fury in 2009Credit: Rex

At the time, Fury was a gangly young 21-year-old – far from the finished article but brimming with promise – while McDermott was 30 fights (25-5) into his career and eight years the Mancunian’s senior.

‘Big Bad John’ came into the clash off the back of two decision defeats to Danny Williams and was given a 4/1 chance of beating Fury with the bookies.

But he performed out of his skin on fight night as he battered Fury from pillar to post en route to what many believed to be a deserved upset victory.

To the surprise of many though, referee Terry O’Connor, raised Fury’s hand aloft in the immediate aftermath, leading to cries of ‘robbery’ from McDermott and disgruntled fans.

“I definitely won it, mate,” McDermott told The Times. “I don’t know how the referee scored it eight rounds to him and two to me.

“Fury didn’t say a word. I was literally waiting in the changing room for someone to come and say, ‘There’s been a mistake.’”

Even Fury’s dad John thought the decision should have gone the other way.

“I was in the car park and Fury’s dad came up to me and said, ‘I thought you won that, mate, we were lucky to get the decision,'” McDermott added. “He didn’t have to say that, did he? It changed my career really.”

His career took a nosedive after losing the rematch to Fury nine months laterCredit: Getty

When they rematched nine months later, McDermott proved to be no match for Fury as a new and improved ‘Gyspy King’ knocked out the Es𝑠e𝑥 slugger in round nine.

After suffering his fourth defeat on the bounce McDermott’s career fizzled out and he now works in rubbish clearance.

“It’s a bit quiet at the moment,” he said of his new career. “Not much work around.”

While McDermott makes ends meet by clearing waste from domestic and commercial properties, Fury boasts a net worth of around £150million and has gone on to become a long-reigning world heavyweight champion.

Fury earned a reported £116m for his last outing against Oleksandr Usyk in May, where he suffered the first defeat of his professional career.

They are now set to rematch on December 21 with an even bigger purse expected to be on the line.

McDermott may envy the money Fury is earning but he hasn’t grown bitter at his former foe.

His anger is solely directed towards boxing, which took so much from the 44-year-old and gave little in return.

Fury has gone on to establish himself as one of the best heavyweights of his generation and is multi-millionaireCredit: Getty

“I made 25 grand from fighting him [Fury]. I didn’t earn enough to buy a house,” McDermott continued.

“Two fights a year, usually 15 grand each, minimum wage innit? I was not bitter at Tyson Fury when I stopped, but I was at the sport. I still am…

“You wake up at 34 and you think, ‘What will I do now?’ You’ve put your whole life into this.

“Could have, should have, I made mistakes. My nephew was a good amateur and was going to turn pro.

“I said, ‘Don’t do it like I did. Have something to fall back on.’ People think boxers make fortunes, but for most there’s 10 percent for your trainer, then the sparring partners, expenses, not much left…

“I don’t watch much boxing now. I’m not saying I was the best or anything, but it was bad to me.”