It was a thrilling fight at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium outside of London on Saturday night as Briton’s Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine threw tactical punches on one another while contesting for the WBO, WBA and IBF titles earlier held by Joshua.
Joshua, 31, despite fighting in front of nearly 70,000 supporters at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, was unable to meet up his pre-match promise of retaining the titles as his opponent, Usyk 34, ripped him of the unified heavyweight titles.
Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) claimed Joshua’s WBA (Super), WBO and IBF titles by using a combination of footwork, head movement and a sharp left hand to keep Joshua off balance throughout the 12-round affair.
With tears in his eyes as he raised his arms in the center of the ring after an unanimous decision, the Ukrainian Boxer said: “This means much for me, a lot, the fight went exactly the way I expected it to go. There were a couple of moments when Anthony pushed me hard but nothing special
“I have been working so hard since January in preparation for this fight, it took me some half a year and I didn’t see my family for so long
“I miss my children and I miss watching them play. I want to go home and be happy and I’m not thinking about the rematch at this second”
Usyk dominated from the first bell, as score card of 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113 were reward after a sensational display from the unbeaten Ukrainian, who became only the third fighter after Evander Holyfield and David Haye to win world titles at cruiserweight and heavyweight.
Oleksandr Usyk’s extraordinary victory over Anthony Joshua earned him the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO heavyweight world titles.
Joshua, who left the ring with a swollen right eye did not speak in the aftermath as he sought medical care.
His promoter, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport ultimately believes his fighter will seek a second bout.
“The rematch is going to be tough but there is nowhere to hide because AJ is at the stage of his career where he wants his world championship and he’s already talking about it now”
Meanehile, minutes after the match, Joshua tweeted via his official account “Keep positive even if the world’s crumbling in front of you!
“London I love you & thank you each and every time!”
Joshua, 31, was supposed to face WBC and lineal champion Tyson Fury this summer but plans were canceled after Deontay Wilder won a court injunction to invoke a trilogy bout against Fury for Oct. 9.
Instead of setting up plans for an all-England summit for the undisputed title, the next development besides Wilder-Fury III will be whether Joshua accepts his own contractually obligated rematch against Usyk.
Some fans of Anthony Joshua had already taken to the social media that the Heavyweight star will seek for a rematch where he will reclaim his honor as he earlier did with Andy Ruiz Jnr.