Joshua bemoans missed opportunity
Nigeria born former world champion Anthony Joshua admitted on Sunday that he “let himself down” with his rant in the ring following another agonising defeat against Oleksandr Usyk.
The rematch in Saudi Arabia was an entertaining and far closer contest than the pair’s first bout in September, but the Ukrainian withstood the power of a vastly improved Joshua and prevailed via split decision to retain the WBA, WBO and IBF titles.
Joshua lost control when the verdict was read aloud and threw two of the belts to the floor before storming out of the ring. He stopped just before the exit, marched back and grabbed the microphone to deliver an impassioned but unedifying rant.
The 32-year-old Briton, writing on social media on Sunday evening, acknowledged his emotions “got the better of me”.
“I wish [Usyk] continued success in your quest for greatness. You are a class act champ,” he said.
“Yesterday I had to mentally take myself into a dark place to compete for the championship belts! I had two fights, one with Usyk and one with my emotions and both got the better of me.
“I’ll be the first to admit, I let myself down. I acted out of pure passion and emotion and when not controlled it ain’t great. I love this sport so so much and I’ll be better from this point on. Respect.”
Joshua had earlier broken down in tears at his post-fight press conference as he attempted to explain his emotions
“It’s hard to say I’m proud of myself, I don’t feel anything, I’m upset, deep down in my heart,” Joshua said before he choked up and pulled his baseball cap down over his eyes.
After he had recomposed himself, Joshua was asked to explain his outburst after the final bell.
“I was mad at myself. Not at anyone, just at myself. So I thought I’ve got to get out of here because I’m mad. Like anyone when you’re angry, you might do stupid things,” he said. “Then I realised, this is sport. Let me do the right thing.
“Then I just spoke from my heart. It’s been so tough. You see AJ holding it together and I’m a hustler so I try and hold things together and I try and work hard, put things together, make sure my team’s good. But it comes at a cost, a big cost. It’ll never break me, but it takes real strength for it not to break you.
Joshua lost control when the verdict was read aloud and threw two of the belts to the floor before storming out of the ring.Joshua lost control when the verdict was read aloud and threw two of the belts to the floor before storming out of the ring
“There’s a little crack in that armour. Because I took a loss and I think you just saw me upset. I’m a fighter. I’m not a normal person, even though I try to hold it together.”
Usyk’s victory reaffirmed his status as one of this era’s true greats and the unbeaten Ukrainian is now only one fight away from becoming an undisputed champion for the second time in his career, having already conquered the cruiserweight division.
