Anthony Joshua has revealed that his second loss to Oleksandr Usyk was probably the most painful defeat of his profession.
Joshua was unbeaten till he suffered a shock TKO loss to Andy Ruiz Jr in June 2019, a defeat that he avenged by outpointing Ruiz six months later. The Briton then knocked out Kubrat Pulev in 2020 earlier than shedding to Oleksandr Usyk on factors in 2021. Joshua, 33, fought the unbeaten Ukrainian once more in August 2022, however in contrast to in his rematch in opposition to Ruiz, “AJ” couldn’t regain his unified heavyweight titles.
Joshua bounced again this April with a choice win over Jermaine Franklin, and on Saturday he’ll field Robert Helenius, who steps in for Dillian Whyte after the latter failed a drug take a look at.
Ahead of his conflict with Helenius, Joshua was requested on Thursday which loss damage him probably the most, and he informed Dazn with out hesitation: “Usyk 2. Yeah, massively.
“I respect Usyk, yeah? But it just hurt, the defeat.”
Joshua misplaced on all three scorecards in his first combat with Usyk, who was a split-decision winner of their rematch. Despite the nearer nature of the second bout, Joshua refused to offer himself credit score for an improved efficiency.
“It was weak. It was a weak performance by me,” he informed Dazn. “I wasn’t supposed to lose, in my head.
“It just… I give my life to this game, man. I give everything, I swear to you. I give a lot. Even talking about it now, it just makes me feel like… choked up a bit.
“When you put everything into something, it’s not easy… The only thing we get credit for is winning, there’s no silver medal in boxing. And what I gave wasn’t enough.”
Joshua seized a microphone after his second loss to Usyk and delivered a wierd speech
(Action Images by way of Reuters)
After his second loss to Usyk – his first and final combat underneath coach Robert Garcia – Joshua seized a microphone and delivered a passionate however confused rant in opposition to his critics. He then spoke tearfully on the post-fight press convention.
Although Joshua minimize a calmer determine after beating Franklin in April, in his first combat underneath Derrick James, he admitted he was disenchanted in his efficiency.
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Source: www.unbiased.co.uk
