British heavyweight boxer Anthony “AJ” Joshua failed in his bid to regain the WBO, WBA, and IBF belts for the pride of Ukraine – Oleksandr Usyk.
The much-hyped bout on Saturday night in Saudi Arabia left AJ in tears after he lost by a split decision.
A score tally of the 12-round bout in Jeddah by CompuBox shows Usyk connected more total punches than Joshua – 148 to 123.
He was also more precise of the two opponents, landing 28% of punches thrown compared to Joshua’s 19.2%.
The 35-year-old Ukrainian closed the show by landing 29 punches in round 12, the most by a Joshua opponent.
So desperate was the 32-year-old Briton to win back titles he first lost in September last year, that he snatched the belts and threw them down before storming off, only to be persuaded to return to the ring.
“I’m upset deep down in my coronary heart,” said a teary Joshua afterward.
Not so long ago, in March this year, Usyk was fighting as a Ukrainian soldier on the frontline against Russia.
Usyk, who dedicated his victory to the Ukrainian army, homeland and its people said: “The fight went exactly the way I expected it to go… There was times when Anthony pushed me hard but nothing special.
“I had no objective to knock him out. My corner pushed me not to do that. You didn’t see the best Usyk. I can be much better.”
Although Joshua suffered a meltdown of sorts, he later recomposed himself and used a microphone to vent his frustrations at the loss while also praising the undefeated champion.
Commenting on Joshua’s post-fight anger, Usyk said: “I feel nothing but respect to AJ. I saw him a bit emotional and like bullying some of my teammates.
“That would be a bare-knuckle fight that I don’t recommend him to do because most of them are horrible street fighters.”
Retired boxer Tyson Fury said he was willing to come out of retirement to fight Usyk.
