Anthony Joshua after suffering the third defeat of his professional career in Saudi Arabia as he watched Oleksandr Usyk retain his heavyweight titles via a split-decision victory, stormed out of the ring towards his dressing room but then returned to deliver a bizarre speech with his conqueror standing next to him looking puzzled.
National Daily can recall that Joshua had after the fight, thrown two of Usyk’s belts out of the ring and refused to be calmed down by several members of his own team as well as Usyk’s entourage before his eventual return for the weird speech.
The obviously broken Joshua who admits he ‘let himself down’ after reflecting on his behavior in the aftermath of his loss to Usyk has now said he ‘acted out of pure passion and emotion’ with his impromptu monologue and has vowed to ‘be better from this point on;’ National Daily can confirm.
‘I wish @usykaa continued success in your quest for greatness. You are a class act champ,’ Joshua wrote on Instagram.
‘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.’
When asked about Joshua’s reaction after his loss, Usyk said: ‘I didn’t feel much at this time when he was a bit frustrated. Just common emotions. It’s all good. We just need to communicate a little bit.
‘The good things that he said about me is something that I accept. But I don’t accept it deep to my heart because I want to stay a humble person.
‘I don’t want my pride inside me to go bigger. That’s something like that. I don’t believe in good words.