By Gabriel Princewill
Anthony Joshua has admitted letting himself down with an arrogant rant, following his disappointing loss to Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday.
Joshua put on an improved performance when he lost a split decision to unbeaten talent Olegsander Usyk on Saturday, but was not good enough to secure the much needed win to redeem himself and regain the belts he lost last year. Rather than allow the champion to enjoy his moment of victory, the former world champion exhibited a disappointing level of indiscretion in being the dominant figure in the ring, and explicitly telling Usyk he was stealing his moment just to make his point.
The Londoner’s decision to steal Usyk’s thunder by taking the microphone in the ring and giving an unwarranted monologue, was ill advised and very poor judgement, after losing a world title fight for the second consecutive time to the same man. He had hoped to join boxing greats like Lennox Lewis and Mohammed Ali in becoming three time champion, but simply lacked the wherewithal to pull it off.
Joshua said on social media: “I wish @usykaa [Usyk] continued success in your quest for greatness. You are a class act champ.
“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.
He then went on to add: “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”
Usyk marginally beats Joshua on split decision Image;skysports.com
Inept Corner Men
Joshua’s former coach, Paul Walmsley, was scathing in his criticism against Joshua’s cornermen. He tweeted in the aftermath of Saturday’s bout: “Big Josh let down by woeful cornermen in both fights.”
When asked by a fan what he would’ve done differently if he was in AJ’s corner on the night, Walmsley responded in depth: “Front foot pressure, staying in front of him as he moves.
“Let his shots go as Usyk came in (Josh has the longer reach) therefore more chance of landing. Also easier to control ring space and put pressure on Usyk
“Josh kept pushing away as Usyk came in giving him more space to move.”
In the last few rounds of the fight, Joshua raised the tempo in a late bid to secure a decisive victory, but Usyk remained resilient through each onslaught from the former champion. Joshua had been relatively tentative in the preceding rounds, where he most needed to establish his authourity , and gather enough momentum to dominate and conquer the tough Ukranian in the ring.
The aftermath of the fight left England’s once golden goose feeling sore, thereby igniting the his misguided conduct thereafter.
Joshua took two of Usyk’s belts from chief trainer Yurii Ivanovich Tkachenko, who appeared to be passing them to the champion, before walking to the other side of the ring and tossing them to the ground.Joshua is subsequently seen walking out of the ring and throwing his towel in frustration before appearing to react angrily to a comment from somebody not in shot.
Former unified lightweight world champion and Usyk compatriot Vasyl Lomachenko offered some consoling words for AJ, but the 32-year-old did not want to hear it.
Lomachenko told the former two-time heavyweight champion that he ‘showed good heart,’ in his defeat to Usyk, but the comment seemed to offend the Watford-born star.
Joshua said: ‘F*** that s***. Good boxing has to win. F*** that s***.’
Humble
Joshua, who was originally praised a humble heavyweight during his infant years as a professional has become accustomed to uttering profanities, almost in the same manner as Wbc champion Tyson Fury, whose use of obscene language has become part of his promotional tool.
The stark reality is that Joshua lost to one of the best talents in boxing, though could have done better had he gone in steaming in the earlier rounds. It takes a different level of know how to propel one’s body to function in a way it isn’t used to doing.
Joshua’s nemesis, Tyson Fury, has vowed to bring the belts back to Britain and become the undisputed world heavyweight champ in a record £125million Saudi Arabia superfight against Oleksandr Usyk in December.
Fury declared on Instagram: “England has been relieved of its belts but there is a remedy. If you want those belts back then send in the Gypsy barbarian.”
And recalling his 2015 triumph over Usyk’s fellow Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko, Fury added: “Send me in and I will relieve the Ukrainian dosser of his belts like I did the last Ukrainian dosser.
“But it’s not going to be cheap, if you want the best you have to pay. It’s going to be very expensive, so get your f***ing cheque book out and I will relieve the Ukrainian dosser of the belts”