Anthony Joshua loses to Oleksandr Usyk again as Ukrainian retains world titles (2024)
Joshua was taking on Usyk for the second time in 11 months having lost his three heavyweight world titles to the Ukrainian last September
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In pictures: Usyk v Joshua II
Oleksandr Usyk proved to be Anthony Joshua's nemesis once again as the Ukrainian held on to his heavyweight world titles.
Joshua, with new trainer Robert Garcia in his corner, produced a much-improved performance 11 months on from his defeat by the former undisputed cruiserweight ruler. But Usyk again proved too good as he was given the nod on two of the three scorecards.
But Joshua's showing was marred by his post-fight actions when he picked up two of the four belts on offer, slammed them on the canvas and stormed out of the ring in anger. The Olympic champion regained his composure and returned to the ring before delivering an X-rated speech as emotions boiled over in Saudi Arabia.
An hour earlier, Joshua walked to the ring first for just the second time in his career and was decked out in a black, a change of outfit having been dressed in white for his previous 11 world title fights. In another nod to Mike Tyson, the Brit was accompanied by the motivational words of legendary trainer Cus D'Amato.
Usyk, meanwhile, made his walk from the changing room in the blue and yellow of his homeland as he looked to extend his unbeaten record and cement his position in the upper echelons of the mythical pound-for-pound list.
And it was Usyk who landed the first solid punch of the fight with a left hand to the chin as Joshua looked to work the champion's body. He then responded to another left hand with a back hand of his own but it was the Ukrainian who made the better start.
Joshua punctuated the start of the second round with a right hand as he looked to take the initiative. He looked to drop down to the body but Usyk's footwork continued to cause problems, as it did in their first meeting, as he landed flush with his lead right hand.
Joshua landed a clubbing left-right in the opening minute of the third stanza but was struggling to find any consistency in the face of Usyk's evasive style. The champion worked his way into the round towards the bell but it was the challenger who did enough to nick the session.
Joshua's corner told him he had won the opening three rounds and the Brit landed a stiff jab to open his account in round four. A right hand forced Usyk back but the smaller man took the shot well on his gloves before planting his feet and landing his dangerous left hand.
Left hands were traded at the start of the fifth round as a more aggressive Joshua looked more comfortable letting his hands go. Joshua looked to have Usyk hurt with a body shot but the Ukrainian complained of a low blow and was given time to recover.
Joshua stalked Usyk at the beginning of the sixth round as he landed a right hand followed by a left hook. The challenger's right eye was beginning to show signs of wear and tear as the pace began to slow. But Joshua rallied the crowd with a right hand against the ropes. Usyk responded with a left hand-right hook before finishing the session on top.
Joshua looked to rough up Usyk as the fight entered the second half, grabbing his head and looking to land to the body. He looked to take the centre of the ring and landed a right to which Usyk replied with the opposite hand as he took over in the second half of the round.
The referee ordered the canvas be cleaned before the start of the eighth round as the rivals' sweat in the desert heat level the ground slippy underfoot. On the resumption, Joshua landed a left hook to Usyk's ribs but the champion responded with a flurry. But he was forced to grab on when Joshua resumed his assault on the body, as he had promised during their final face-off.
Joshua was finally able to work his way inside and began to maul Usyk's body in the centre of the ring. He had the champion on the back foot for the first time in 21 rounds as the Ukrainian looked momentarily shaken.
But Usyk showed no ill-effects as he made fast start to the 10th round with a flurry of left hands. Joshua had little answer to the onslaught but suddenly found a right hand from nowhere to stun his adversary. But it was Usyk who came on stronger in the final minute as his powers of recovery came to the fore.
Usyk sensed an early finish with six minutes remaining but Joshua remained dangerous when he switched to the body. But the champion had seemingly limitless reserves of conditioning as he picked his punches to ensure he took a lead into the final round.
Joshua likely needed a stoppage in the final session and did land a right hand against the ropes only for Usyk to respond immediately. And it was the champion who finished on top before the judges confirmed his reign will continue by delivering scores of 113-115, 115-113 and 116-112.
On the undercard, Callum Smith earned himself a shot at a light-heavyweight world title with a stunning knockout of Mathieu Bauderlique. Smith, who lost his super-middleweight crown to Canelo Alvarez two years ago, earned his second win at 175lb with a fourth-round stoppage.
Bauderlique started well and showed no sign of being daunted by Smith's power, but the Liverpudlian dropped his French rival with a left hook to stamp his authority on the bout. And he completed the job before the end of the fourth session when he landed the same shot on the ropes to leave Bauderlique down and out.
"It’s been a long time out the ring, and it's good to get back in," said Smith. "It puts me in line for the world title next, so a good night all round. I was surprised by how much he engaged with me early on; I thought he was going to move a lot and try to offset and then take me on later in the round."
In the chief support fight, Filip Hrgovic overcame a huge scare to secure a controversial win over Zhang Zhilei to earn a shot at the winner of the main event. Hrgovic was the favourite to secure a world title shot but was dropped in the first round when he was clipped behind the ear with a left hand. The Croatian recovered well, however, but Zhang then began to take over from the fourth round
But the momentum swung again as Zhang began to tire in the second half and Hrgovic sensed an opportunity to take advantage of his opponent's renowned poor conditioning. But he continued to look out of sorts as he looked out of the ring and backed off from Zhang just as he appeared to be in the ascendency.
Hrgovic finished the final round the stronger before being given the nod by all three judges, much to the chagrin of the crowd who showed their displeasure at the scores of 115-112, 115-112 and 114-113.
Former two-weight world title champion Badou Jack looked a pale imitation of the man who took James DeGale and George Groves into deep water in his prime as he scraped a split-decision victory over Richard Rivera.
Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk retained his world heavyweight titles with a split decision
split decision
A split decision (SD) is a winning criterion in boxing, most commonly in full-contact combat sports, in which two of the three judges score one particular competitor as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other competitor. A split decision is different from a majority decision.
Thank you for subscribing! Oleksandr Usyk immediately returned Anthony Joshua's IBO, WBA, IBF and WBO world heavyweight title belts after winning them off the British boxer in their first fight.
Usyk won the rematch with a twelve round split decision victory over Joshua - retaining the WBO, IBF, IBO and WBA heavyweight titles. Ward was ranked as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters during his glistening career, in which he won titles in both the super middleweight and light heavyweight divisions.
Leading up to the first bout in September, promoter Eddie Hearn told Sean O'Brien of talkSport that the agreement included an automatic rematch clause for Joshua. "Yes, there will be [a rematch clause]. It's a two-fight deal in that respect," Hearn said.
Anthony Joshua has said he let himself down in the moments after his split decision defeat in a rematch with Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday. Joshua failed to reclaim the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO heavyweight titles as he suffered his second straight loss to Usyk -- his third defeat in his last five fights.
Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua OBE (born 15 October 1989) is a British professional boxer. He is a two-time former unified world heavyweight champion, having held the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO titles twice between 2016 and 2021.
Anthony Joshua has apologised to unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk after throwing his belts from the ring during an outburst following their rematch back in August.
This means Joshua will net $75 million, and Usyk is expected to earn the same $75 million. A hefty increase from their first fight, indeed. This also doesn't take into account fight bonuses and sponsorship deals each fighter has lined up.
In 2020, Forbes reported that Joshua's net worth was £38.1million ($47m). According to SportsLens, Joshua's win over Franklin has seen his net worth rocket to £120m. The Watford local has earned millions over his last 10 fights and it looks as if it could get better for the heavyweight.
So from that fight alone, Joshua walked away with a massive £32.5m, which means the former Olympic Gold Medal boxer pocketed nearly £50m from his last two bouts.
He then confronted the champion, saying “you're not strong, how did you beat me?How?I had character and determination”, before addressing the crowd with a bizarre rant about his past and his own shortcomings as a boxer - as well as praise for Usyk. He said: “I am giving you my story.
Do Fighters Keep Their Belts? Yes. Boxers who become champion of their weight division get to keep their belt for good. Even once they eventually relinquish their title as champion, they keep it, because a new belt is made for the new champion.
Joshua lost all four belts to Ruiz Jr and was stopped by the Mexican in the process before winning them back on points last December. AJ has currently no belts to his name following his two successive defeats to Oleksandr Usyk in 2021 and 2022.
The Briton's three losses have come against Andy Ruiz Jr and Usyk. Ruiz Jr stopped Joshua in the seventh round in 2019, taking the unified heavyweight titles from him, before Usyk beat “AJ” via unanimous decision (117-112, 115-113, 116-112) in 2021 to do the same.
Oleksandr Usyk is one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world right now, if not number one. Now he will be looking to cement that status when he puts his WBA, WBO and IBF world heavyweight title belts on the line against Anthony Joshua in Jeddah on August 20. This will be the second time the pair have met.
Sept 26 (Reuters) - WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has called off his proposed 'Battle of Britain' bout with Anthony Joshua, saying his compatriot had not signed the contract before Monday's deadline.
“Because I'mma be a d—,” Lopez said. “Because everybody [in Lomachenko's camp] was being a d— to me, my father.” “He didn't want to put a rematch clause in our contract. “There are lots of other things that I can get real dirty into but I'm not.
“I'm sorry, but it's because of the passion we put into this. “This guy beat me tonight. Maybe I could have done better, but it shows the level of hard work I put in, so please give him a round of applause as our heavyweight champion of the world. I'm not a 12-round fighter.
Overall, however, Usyk outperformed Joshua, landing 170 of 712 punches, compared with 124 of 492 for Joshua. Usyk also established new records for punches landed by an Anthony Joshua opponent (170) and most punches landed on Joshua in a single round (39 punches in the 10th round).
WBC. Many boxers regard the World Boxing Council as the most prestigious heavyweight belt in the sport. The WBC came into existence one year after the WBA in 1963.
After some negotiations, the heavyweight title was unified in the heavyweight unification series, a series of coordinated bouts in 1986 and 1987, with Mike Tyson emerging as the first undisputed champion (WBA, WBC, and IBF) since Leon Spinks in 1978.
'I think he's lost a lot of faith in the system': Eddie Hearn explains why Anthony Joshua threw Oleksandr Usyk's titles out of the ring during his Saudi meltdown, as he claims Brit is 'not interested in fighting for belts'
"I knew I was mad at myself, not at anyone, just at myself.I thought I had to get out of there because I was mad. Like anyone, when you're mad you might do stupid things. Then I realised, 'S*** it's a sport, let's do the right thing and come back'."
His world was almost turned upside down in 2011 when he was charged with possession with intent to supply a class B drug after police found a large amount cannabis in his car.
Speaking to the BBC, Joshua explained how he had a health issue leading up to the 2019 fight - which saw him lose his WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO titles. AJ said: 'I had some issue with my health which I was going through for a long time.
According to Sports Lens, 29-year-old Franklin received approximately £800,000 for tonight's main event against Joshua. However, it is reported that the figure could rise to above £1million when factoring in sponsorship deals. Meanwhile, Joshua is said to be on course to earn roughly £10m for the fight.
Usyk reportedly banked an additional £9 million after the fight did huge numbers at the pay-per-view. This means that all in all, Oleksandr Usyk earned a reported £41.5 million for his main event fight last August in the Saudi Arabian desert against Anthony Joshua in their highly anticipated world title rematch.
Anthony Joshua says his love language is MONEY - and with £109MILLION in the bank he has an incredible car collection, has spent £7.5m on upgrading his property empire and enjoys lavish holidays in Dubai.
While trackers are often used to measure workload, it's the recovery side of things that Joshua feels the most benefit from and he gets, on average, around 6hrs 40mins sleep per night.
Canelo Alvarez continues to be boxing's biggest breadwinner. With an estimated total earnings of $110 million, the undisputed super middleweight champion is the world's fifth highest-paid athlete, according to a new report released by Forbes.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Mayweather is worth around $450 million. His career earnings in and out of boxing have totaled up to about $1.1 billion. Mayweather has an investment portfolio of over $100 million. That includes real estate and his own businesses outside of boxing.
Mayweather's net worth is 450 million dollars and he has earned more than 1.1 billion dollars throughout his career, making him the richest boxer of all time.
McCall II. Lewis and McCall squared off again on February 7, 1997, in Las Vegas. In a bizarre fight, McCall refused to fight in the fourth and fifth rounds, beginning to cry and eventually forcing the referee to stop the fight and award Lewis the victory.
Fury accused Usyk of "running", saying, "You were never man enough to tangle with the 'Gypsy King', ever in your life." Usyk had accepted Fury's public challenge of taking the short end of a 70/30 purse split on the proviso that Fury made a sizeable donation to the Ukrainian relief effort.
The ring is a high-tech fitness tracker rather than a symbol of marriage, and is said to help athletes record their heart rate, monitor skin temperature and even track sleep patterns.
A defeat, though, would complicate things a lot for Canelo, as he would lose all his belts and likely face lots of criticism, and he should earn his way back to the big fights against Bivol or David Benavidez, which may be harder than expected taking into consideration he has never been used to deal with such a ...
International Title: $1,500 USD (Including championship belt and shipping costs). All-Americas Titles: $1,500 USD (Including championship belt and shipping costs). Youth World Title: $1,500 USD (Including championship belt and shipping costs).
A fighter becomes an undisputed world champion when they claim all four belts from the major sanctioning bodies. The primary function of a sanctioning body is to manage rankings for the different divisions they cover.
Following his release from prison in 1995, Tyson resumed boxing and in 1996 regained two of his championship belts with easy victories over Frank Bruno and Bruce Seldon.
Anthony Joshua 2 fight purse, prize money. Per SportsZion and talkSPORT, the base money for the rematch will be a 50-50 split. Joshua is expected to earn about $75 million, plus the fight bonus (about $119 million because sponsorships). Usyk is expected to earn the same $75 million.
Anthony Joshua lost for the second consecutive time on Saturday to Oleksandr Usyk by a split decision in Saudi Arabia. Joshua fought better than he did in the first fight.
According to Sports Lens, 29-year-old Franklin received approximately £800,000 for tonight's main event against Joshua. However, it is reported that the figure could rise to above £1million when factoring in sponsorship deals. Meanwhile, Joshua is said to be on course to earn roughly £10m for the fight.
It has not been confirmed how much Joshua will earn for the fight, but he is expected to take home as much as £10 million should he win the contest in London. Meanwhile, Franklin is guaranteed a reported £800k for the fight, but that could rise to over £1 million should he win the fight.
The 33-year-old remains a huge draw and the 20,000 seater venue will host a sold-out crowd. However, Joshua has grown accustomed to title showdowns at Wembley stadium and mammoth pay-per-view purses. The Englishman raked in £65m for his last fight against Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia in August 2022.
With the bout being held in the King Abdullah Sports City stadium, a 60,000-plus seater soccer stadium, reduced to around 35,000 for boxing events, there is ample chance of getting in. Tickets start at 375 Saudi riyals ($100) and go up to 20,000 riyals ($5333) for ringside, a snip all things considered.
Joshua 2 odds. Betfred (as of August 18) has Oleksandr Usyk installed as the favourite at 8/15, which means fans would have to bet £150 to win £80 plus the orignal stake. Anthony Joshua meanwhile is an underdog at 13/8, which means fans would have to bet £80 to win £130 in addition to the orignal stake.
Video Unavailable. Anthony Joshua lost his temper after losing his rematch to Oleksandr Usyk and reacted angrily by throwing two belts and arguing with his team. "I don't feel anything," he said at first, as he tried to come to terms with the effect of the loss, before he had to admit, "I'm upset deep down in my heart. ...
LONDON: Ukraine's Oleksandr Usyk dethroned world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in his own backyard with a stunning display to earn a unanimous points decision in front of a sell-out crowd at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.
Joshua will be looking to win his first professional fight since December 2020 but has admitted he will step away from boxing if he loses a third successive bout. "I will.
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