GALLANT JOSHUA PRAISES USYK IN SPITE OF DEFEAT IN HARD FOUGHT 12 ROUND

British Nigerian boxer Anthony Joshua lost for the second consecutive time against Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk in his quest to reclaim the unified WBO, WBA and IBF titles.

The former world heavyweight champion who has had his excellent composure both inside and outside the ring in his boxing career lost control after the failure to win the titles. He vent his emotions in a passionate two minutes speech before the champion had a chance to address the crowd.

Meanwhile he has admitted to the Ukranian in his Instagram write up on Sunday, wishing the WBO, WBA, IBF champion greatness in endeavours.

“I wish @usyk a continued success in his quest for greatness. You are a class act champ. Joshua said. He did also admit he had reflected on the Saturday boxing night in Jeddah and felt he let himself down.

“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.” Anthony Joshua said.

Meanwhile, reactions have trailed Joshua outburst which Carl Froch felt the British Nigerian boxer deserves praise after a hard- fought 12 rounds, but had then taken the spotlight from Usyk.

“He got the mic, he stole Usyk’s moment but let’s not go too mad. He didn’t say anything that would have offended anybody too much,” said Froch according to Sky Sports.

“He was just trying to speak off the cuff. He put his heart on his sleeve but he did steal Usyk’s moment and it was bit strange.

“I didn’t like the way the belts got thrown. It was a great boxing match. I thought it was a great performance. But that highlights his passion- how much it meant to him and how much he wanted it.”

In another reaction, Joshua’s close friend Frazer Clarke, felt that the Brit boxing star should have been given time to retain his composure and strongly believes his team should have done more to look after him, given the emotions of the moment.

“As a gym friend and a friend in general, for anyone that is offended by what happened, I think I can just apologise on his behalf for the outburst,” Clark to Sky Sports.

He further stated that Joshua and his team might be mad at him, but he strongly feels Joshua was left to dry by the team and feels someone should have saved him.

With the defeat Joshua’s third professional career hit hard! The British African boxer might not have an opportunity soon for a rematch as Tyson Fury is closer to fighting the Ukranian.

Anthony Oluwafemi Joshua had previously lost his title to Andy Ruiz Jr in June 2019 when he was knocked down in the seventh round in New York. He was two time WBA, WBO, IBO and IBF between 2016 and 2021 and held the British and Commonwealth Heavyweight titles from 2015 to 2016.