- Oleksandr Usyk beats Anthony Joshua on points to retain his heavyweight titles
- Usyk once again proved too skillful for Anthill Joshua as he retained his WBA, WBO and IBF belts
- Judges Scorecards: The first judge had 115-113 in favour of Joshua while the second 115-113 to Usyk and the third 116-112 to Usyk
British-Nigerian boxer, Anthony Joshua’s bid to recapture the unified heavyweight titles ended in disappointment as Ukrainian Aleksander Usyk produced a terrific performance to win by split decision in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The fight between AJ and Usyk was a close one Joshua, 32, showed some aggressiveness and intent, but still it was not enough. Joshua out of despair threw Usyk’s three belts out of the ring.
Usyk landed more solid jabs on Joshua in the final round and the former champion tries to counter with punches of his own.
Usyk retained the IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO titles on a split decision.
The first judge had 115-113 in favour of Anthony Joshua while the second had 115-113 to Usyk and the third 116-112 to Usyk.
Usyk, 35, had last year defeated the defending champion in London. The Ukrainian victory may set up a potential unification bout with Britain’s Tyson Fury.
At the end of the fight, Anthony Joshua picked up two of Usyk’s belts, dropped them on the floor and strode towards the dressing room, before turning round and getting back into the ring.
“Usyk is one hell of a fighter. That’s just emotion, if you knew my story, you’d understand the passion. I’m not an amateur boxer. I was going to jail and I got bail and I started training.
“It shows the passion we put into this. For Usyk to defeat me tonight, it shows the levels of hard work he must have put in, so please give him a round of applause as heavyweight champion of world.
“They said that I’m not a 12-round fighter. I ain’t 14 stone, I’m 18 stone, I’m heavy. It’s hard work. This guy here is phenomenal.”
Anthony Joshua
