Having suffered a rematch with Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs), British ex-champion Anthony Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs) did not wait until he was interviewed.
He behaved defiantly, freaked out and almost went into the room under the stands, but nevertheless returned to the ring, took the microphone and gave a long speech. In it, he called on the public to pay tribute to the winner and tried to explain why he failed to live up to the expectations placed on him.
“Usyk is a hell of a fighter, let’s applaud him! It’s just emotion,” Joshua admitted. “If you knew my story, you would understand my passion. I haven’t been a fucking amateur boxer since I was five, who was considered an elite prospect from a young age. I should have gone to jail. But they put me on bail and I started busting my ass in the training room because if they put me in jail, I wouldn’t be able to fight.”
- Vitali Klitschko commented on Usyk’s victory in a rematch with Joshua
“This guy who beat me today…I could probably do better, but it shows the level of hard work he must have put in, so please give him a round of applause as our world heavyweight champion.”
“I am not a 12 round fighter. Look at me! I’m from a new breed of heavyweights. All those heavyweights – Mike Tyson, Sunny Liston, Jack Dempsey… “Oh, you don’t throw combinations like Rocky Marciano.” Yes, because in me, bl ***, not 89 kilograms, that’s why! I weigh 115 kg – I’m heavy! It is hard work! This guy is a phenomenal talent.”
The final statistics of Usyk-Joshua’s rematch is already known.