Oleksandr Usyk had produced a sublime performance at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Saturday to secure an unanimous decision victory over Anthony Joshua taking away the IBF, WBO and WBA heavyweight titles to Ukraine from the UK.
The former cruiserweight king who had neither been defeated nor even been knocked down in his professional career bewildered Joshua for large portions of the fight with a scintillating display in his opponent’s own back garden.
Though, Joshua who was seen to have offered some resistance in the mid-rounds but ultimately could not find an answer.
Meanwhile, Usyk speaking in his post-fight interview had described Joshua’s attempts to change the course of the fight as ‘nothing special’.
‘The fight went exactly the way I expected it to go,’ Usyk told Sky Sports, translated through his manager Alexander Krassyuk.
‘There were a couple of moments when Anthony pushed me hard, but just nothing special.’
Trailing on the scorecards, Joshua needed a big final round to stand any chance of winning the fight.
But it was Usyk who provided the late flurry, almost flooring the now-former champion having been instructed to not go for the knockout earlier in the contest.
‘I had no objective to knock him out because my trainers, my corner, pushed me not to do that,’ he said.
‘At the beginning I hit him hard and just tried to knock him out but my trainer said just stop and do my job.’
For the new IBF, WBO and WBA heavyweight titles holder, his victory over Joshua unfolded exactly how he thought it would.