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See the shocking details of how Anthony Joshua lost his heavyweight title yet again
Anthony Joshua who had hoped to add the WBC title to his former WBA, WBO and IBF titles to become the undisputed heavyweight world champion by beating Tyson Fury in their earlier heavily-anticipated bout was handed a shocker by Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk in London to end the Britain’s second reign as heavyweight world champion.
Joshua 31, was defending his WBA, WBO and IBF belts against Usyk at Tottenham’s Stadium, but a masterclass in boxing across 12 rounds from Usyk was enough to take the heavyweight titles with a unanimous decision with a clean sweep of Judges scorecard 117-112, 116-112, 115-113 in the Ukrainian’s favour.
Usyk who had never been defeated or even knocked down during the course of his professional career made a bright start as he intelligently worked angles to catch Joshua upstairs and to the body as the champion struggled to deal with his opponent’s speed.
Soon after Usyk was able to catch Joshua with a heavy left in the third round as the Briton struggled to get to grips with the southpaw’s speed and footwork.
The thunderous left shot from the Ukrainian hurt Joshua and while he responded with a shot of his own, he walked back to his corner looking shaken.
Usyk catches Joshua with a heavy left in the third round
Manoeuvring around Joshua with wonderful footwork, Usyk looked at home and in control, making the Briton miss as he controlled the distance.
Roared on the crowd, Joshua found his range with a slick one-two towards the end of the fourth but Usyk would again find his target with body shots in the fifth, outboxing the champion and taking a commanding lead on the score cards.
Joshua responded with power shots and began to utilise his huge reach advantage in the sixth, finding his jab to start keeping the challenger at distance.
A stinging right bloodied the nose of Usyk but the challenger’s response was typically polished, with another big shot sent Joshua backpaddling in the seventh, catching him with a looping left that knocked him off balance.
Usyk’s intensity and speed showed no signs of slowing as they reached the eighth round.
By the tenth round, Joshua was lucky to draw blood above Oleksandr Usyk’s right eye, but the Ukrainian had also brought about some swelling around Joshua’s right eye – setting up a fascinating end to the fight as a tired Joshua went in search of a knockout.
However, despite that being his only hope of salvaging something, that knockout blow didn’t come – with Usyk finding some good shots a tremendous final-round salvo to end Joshua’s second reign as world champion.
By the end of the 10th round, the war wounds were evident on both, Usyk cut on his forehead and Joshua’s right eye swelling quickly.
The busier and more accurate work came from the Ukrainian in the 11th round thus making it clearer that Joshua could only need a huge knockout to keep his titles in the UK.
But the explosive finish came from the challenger, who brutalised the soon-to-former champion with a flurry of heavy shots in the closing minute.
Joshua stood his ground to hear the final bell, but left the ring without his titles with a new king taking his throne.
Usyk earned the win after shutting out the Briton with a tactical masterclass as he demonstrated why he is regarded as one of the best-pound-for-pound fighters in boxing to hand Joshua his second defeat in his professional career after his loss to Andy Ruiz Jr two years ago.
Though a rematch clause could give Joshua the chance to reclaim the world titles – but his defeat could end hopes of a unification showdown with the WBC champion Tyson Fury.
Meanwhile, Usyk’s victory has now rocked the heavyweight division and will surely shelve the plans for all-British clash that was previously hoped to take place next year after talks spectacularly collapsed this summer for the foreseeable future.