Usyk wins Anthony Joshua by unanimous decision

By Luke Brown

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Oleksandr Usyk’s extraordinary victory over Anthony Joshua at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, to win the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO heavyweight world titles.

Usyk dominated from the first bell, outclassing Joshua with a sublime performance in front of 67,000 fans in London.

Scores of 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113 were just reward after a sensational display from the unbeaten Usyk, who becomes only the third fighter after Evander Holyfield and David Haye to win world titles at cruiserweight and heavyweight.

Joshua: I want the rematch next

At the post-fight press conference tonight Joshua confirmed he wanted to exercise the rematch option in his contract with Usyk.

“100%, I want it next, he said. “I’ll get back into training soon. That was a good 12 rounds for my lungs, I’ll be back.”

Anthony Joshua comments on loss

Joshua took to social media for the first time since his loss. Here’s what he said.

Tonight’s official attendance….. 66,267.

… good to see.

Hi, Luke! Hello from Kyiv, a Ukrainian is writing to you. My name is Vadim. I can’t describe to you enough how happy I am and the whole country is about Usyk winning. Klitschko lost to Joshua and now we have another fantastic fighter to beat AJ in London and take the belts back. What a stunning performance and what a big event for a country that doesn’t have many happy moments. Thank you for coverage and respect to AJ for being a true professional .

Many congratulations, Vadym! I’m happy that you enjoyed the fight and got the result you wanted. There does seem to be a very neat symmetry to tonight’s result. Tyson Fury beating Wladimir Klitschko and stealing his heavyweight world titles. Anthony Joshua then beating Klitschko, after Fury had vacated. And now Oleksandr Usyk beating Joshua in London to bring the belts back to Ukraine.

Ukraine has such a proud boxing history and Usyk and Vasiliy Lomachenko — one of the most exciting fighters in the history of the sport, in my opinion — have taken the sport by storm in the last few years. I’m looking forward to seeing the two of them in many more fights to come.

Some more emails!

The first is from Richard:

I couldn’t be happier for Usyk with his win over Joshua! Nice to see there are still some actually boxers left in the world, instead of those jokers AJ, Fury, Wilder and the rest. They wouldn’t have lasted 2 minutes with Frazier or Foreman. Hell, I doubt they’d have lasted with Calzaghe & Benn!

I’m pleased for Usyk too. He’s such a wonderful fighter to watch and deserves this level of recognition. I disagree with you about Fury though, I reckon the version of Fury that beat Klitschko could give any heavyweight champion in history a fierce fight. Let’s hope he is fully fit and motivated for next month’s trilogy, because a fight between Fury and Usyk would just be ludicrously good. Only about 2 per cent of punches thrown would land and it would be brilliant.

Joshua has been taken to hospital.

Hearn just commented on BBC Radio 5Live: “He will go to hospital. I don’t know if he has broken his eye socket, it doesn’t look great.”

Usyk is only the third man after Evander Holyfield and David Haye to win world titles at both cruiserweight and heavyweight.

So … will there be a rematch?

Joshua has said that he has an immediate rematch clause in his fight contract with Usyk.

After his defeat, Hearn said that Joshua wanted to exercise that clause immediately. “There are no complaints from AJ and he will go again,” Hearn, his promoter, said live on Sky Sports.

“He has been beaten by a pound for pound great fighter. We have been here before at Madison Square Garden. That was different and he has been beaten by the better man on the night. He will have to make some big changes in the rematch to avenge that defeat.”

Usyk’s promoter, Alexander Krassyuk of K2 Promotions, said before the fight that he expected an immediate rematch with Joshua.

“Every ambitious fighter is chasing for glory, is chasing for recognition, for success, for fame,” Krassyuk said. “And there’s only one way to get all of those things. It’s to fight the best fighters. And AJ is the best. He is the king of the division. But if you wanna become a king yourself, you have to dethrone the king. So, let this fight happen, let the best man win and we’ll see you again for the rematch.”

But, after the fight, Usyk refused to be drawn on his immediate future, instead insisting he wanted “to go home” and that he was “not thinking about a rematch”

He fights Deontay Wilder in a trilogy bout on 9 October in Las Vegas.

Eddie Hearn speaks

“Usyk is very fit, he’s got great feet and he threw a lot of punches. He was probably a bit more aggressive than Joshua anticipated. Look, it was a tough defeat. He got beat by the better man on the night. It was always going to be difficult because Usyk’s confidence will be sky high.

“He [Joshua] will want to go straight back into the rematch. The desire is still there. He can do so much better in that fight.

What a resume

Usyk has beaten:

Usyk speaks

He tells Sky Sports: “This means a lot to me. The fight went exactly the way I expected it to go, there were times when Anthony pushed me hard, but nothing special.

“I had no objective to knock him out. My corner pushed me not to do that.

When asked if he will fight Joshua in a London rematch, he says: “I’ve been working so hard since January. It took me some half a year. I miss my children and I want to go home. I’m not thinking about the rematch.

“You didn’t see the best Usyk. I can be much better.”

The result

117-112

116-112

115-113

What a performance

We surely have a new heavyweight champion of the world.

Round Twelve

Joshua needs to attack but Usyk leaves him no time. The challenger bounds forward and begins to throw. Joshua bites down on his gumshield and throws an overhand right, which lands. But Usyk absorbs the blow and darts back out of range.

Joshua is trying to press forward but Usyk is throwing back. This fight has been a chess match. This round has been a dogfight. Usyk is throwing, and landing, the heavier shots. Joshua looks dazed. His eyes are wide and he is unsteady on his feet.

Joshua has one minute to knock Usyk out but he is eating increasingly heavy shots. The seconds tick down on Joshua’s second reign as unified heavyweight champion of the world. Still Usyk presses forward. He lands with multiple shots. Joshua’s legs have gone. He leans back onto the ropes. He is ready to be finished. But Usyk cannot find the shot. The bell goes.

Source: the athletic.com