Former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has commented on social media about his bizarre meltdown in the ring following his loss to current champion Oleksandr Usyk last night in Saudi Arabia.
I wish @usykaa (Oleksandr 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.
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
Lol what a bum
One of the best heavyweights in the world is a ‘bum’. I’d hate to think what that makes someone outside the top ten.
not sure how you thought you won the fight?
Bottom line is… Joshua does not take losing too well. Attitude is everything. Hopefully he learns from the experience and improves on his behavior.
That whole post fight episode by Joshua was awkward beyond belief, but at least he acknowledged his mistake, which is a good first step towards the “I’ll be better from this point on” comment that he made.
I’ve been watching boxing since the mid to late 80s. Can’t think of a more unusual situation than what I saw out of Joshua last night. Has me wondering what was going on with him that could have led to that. Seems like something more than just the disappointment of losing that fight…..
I believe that Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is going on with him, it is finally catching up.
Honestly, I’ve never heard of CTE manifesting such behavior. If he is suffering from CTE, the damage is far more subtle. The end result of CTE is less electrical brain activity, which can lead to scattered thoughts and depression. The onset isn’t immediate. I assume a championship caliber fighter is regularly subjected to neurological tests, and I assume he’s passing those tests.
You neglect that he has been boxing for years now, to include his amateur days so it definitely could be taking effect from years of one too many hits. Also, we do not see his personal life behind the cameras, he may have been suffering from depression and other neurological issues for years.
“Can’t think of a more unusual situation than what I saw out of Joshua last night”
Really?
Fan man, Golota and his repeated low blows, Tyson’s ear bite….
but you’ve been watching since the 80’s right
Yeah, boxing has had some real shit-show incidents, but even by the circus-like standards of boxing, this was really unusual.
McCall SORT OF comes to mind with his weird act against Lewis, emotional breakdown of similar mindsets? Although not as bad as Butler sucker punching Grant after the fight with his gloves off. Lots of strange shit in boxing.
@jon I should have been more specific. I meant post-fight reactions, meaning Joshua’s storming out of the ring, then coming back to the ring to ramble on the microphone. Only thing I can think of that comes close is Marlon Starling’s post-fight interview after he fought Tomas Molinares, but the was understandable. Joshua was acting like he was drunk.
I’ve seen stranger in the ring. McCall is a good example. Also, I remember a boxer (Bomani Parker, maybe?) getting knocked down, rolling underneath the bottom rope, and wandering around the crowd for awhile.
Fan Man Tyson ear bite Foremans religious experience following loss to Jimmy Young Oliver McCall during bout with Lennox Lewis
Usfbulls737, then you must not have seen the Oliver McCall and Lennox Lewis fight.
USF there has been some others quite bizarre too, like Teofimo crashing on Kambosos post fight interview, Tyson interview with Gray after flattening Lou Savarese, just to mention 2
@Burucho The Tyson-Gray interview you mentioned brought Mayweather’s meltdown with Merchant to mind. Mayweather and Merchant both lost it a bit…
i think it’s just a combination of so much pressure over the years, mixed with a moderately intellectual mindset that can overthink things. Being convincingly outboxed for 24 rounds is probably more humbling than getting sparked out. Especially immediately after the fight.
He has probably also bought into the role model persona which has been thrust on him for a decade.
He’s a narcissist, I don’t know if he was always like that or the fame & steroids got to his head; making him feel untouchable e.g. Floyd Mayweather, Donald trump, will smith etc.
I don’t think he’s a narcissist. He’s usually very humble I think he trained extremely hard and thought he was ready for everything usyk would bring and when it didn’t work out after all he put in it made him upset and emotional. He did quite well and is always a class act after fights. I think we can give him a pass for how invested he was at avenging himself and it not working out for him. Other fighters have done way worse. Cut him a break.
isn’t the first time or will it be the last time someone makes a fool of their self. he melted down after he put his heart and soul in it.
AJ is an example of too much coaching leading to underperformance. The AJ who was a supreme boxer-puncher and fought on instinct was a better fighter. Being a thoughtful boxer is not his best style.
Bad coaching. Bad muscle memory. Bad reflexes. Bad tactics and strategy. He looked like he was trained to lose.
Perfect example as to why you don’t give a mic to someone that was just punched in the head for 36 minutes
So no interviews after the fight?
At least AJ didn’t use the excuse lesser fighters and athletes make these days pulling out of a fight days before saying they feel emotionally like that coward Broner.
Just go away you pampered bum, no heart hit him and he folds. Bad times don’t build character they reveal it.
AJ had a plan, unfortunately the better Boxer made adjustments. AJ came to fight which is why we had a Great fight. The 10th Round showed us how great Usyk truly is. Usyk’s skills and the weight of his Country pushed him hard after that 9th round. In AJ’s defense as the speech went out was on pure instinct of disappointment on his behalf, he knew he lost, he congratulated the Champ and let his emotions out abt his upbringing. At no point did he bash on the scorecards, Usyk or anyone. The guy is an extremely competitive athlete, we have seen far beyond worse endings in boxing and other sports. This is a subject of discussion because we never pictured AJ going out like this. I firmly believe any Heavyweight with superb Boxing skills will cause a problem for AJ. There are plenty of good fights out there for him. Let’s start with Deontay Wilder. That will be a treat for Boxing.
Bombsquad!! AJ will not get past the first round against Wilder.
In fairness AJ did not do a lot wrong… I mean he didn’t savage someone’s ear or anything, he was just emotional… No harm in that surely
Guys. AJ Just doesn’t want to be the next Frank Bruno….
Uhhh well. So much for that idea.
I think he did MUCH BETTER in this fight. He doesn’t really have anything to be upset about. Usyk is a one in a million fighter. Joshua had a good enough showing to make it a close split decision
Usyk did not look good in this fight. Neither of them looked good.
Honestly, I don’t think it was that big of a deal. He basically just made himself look silly, but Usyk carried on unphased and that was that. Joshua seems like a good guy. He was but into a giant by the media, and giants fall hard. He should have a confidence builder, fight Wilder if he beats Helenius,and then call it a day.
It was funny how he took Uyk’s flag, then Usyk watched him and followed him around the ring wanting his flag back.
AJ took the belts and dropped them in a corner. Usyk went over and picked them up.
Nice to see him treat it with class and acceptance. Good man.
Credit to Usyk. He is the superior fighter, and I applaud his performance. He was facing a bigger, more muscular man intent on knocking him out and avenging a defeat. The championship was on the line, and Usyk rose to meet that challenge. Usyk imposed his will. This should be the dominating story.
As for Joshua, his limitations were exposed yet again, so I can understand his frustration. It is a dark place and devastating to realize that no amount of training in the world can overcome lack of natural ability in the sport. Joshua lost to a more skilled fighter, someone who naturally was able to overcome his height, weight, and strength advantage, and outbox him.
Guys look… Boxers are people. They have off nights too. No matter if we are talking about Joshua’s off the cuff rant last night or H’rgovic not putting his gloves up and allowing himself to catch clean flush shots the entire fight… Stuff happens and boxers have off nights and reasons for them.
Im sure AJs robe was too heavy
What surprised me is AJ’s comments despite the fact he must surely live a privileged life. He has magnificently overcome the early obstacles that many face in life yet, given his comments on Saturday, still seems to consider himself a victim! Strange. I wonder if his management put too much pressure on him to win this one.
AJ LOST AND HE FEELS BAD… THAT’S NORMAL… HE WASN’T AGGRESSIVE ENOUGH AND EVERYBODY KNEW AND COULD SEE THAT… BEING IN A BETTER FIGHT THAN THE FIRST TIME IS NOT ENOUGH… IT’S A TITLE FIGHT YOU HAVE TO GO AND TAKE THE CHAMPIONSHIP AND HE DIDN’T DO IT… HE JUST WASN’T AGGRESSIVE ENOUGH AND A TRAINER WHO SAYS AGGRESSION BUT SMART AGGRESSION WILL NOT BEAT USYK… AJ NEEDED TO SELL OUT AND GO AFTER USYK THE WHOLE 12 ROUNDS AND THAT NEVER HAPPENED…
I agree Chip. His reaction after the fight was weird but I get how that can happen to someone after losing a tough fight like that. Emotions got the better of him in a difficult moment. Him acknowledging that was a good thing for him to do. As for the fight…I think he had him and he let it get away. When Usyk made a stand in round 10…Joshua should have kept up his attack to the body like he did in round 9.I think Usyk was hurt and making a last stand and imo Joshua let him make it instead of forcing the issue. I think he did not handle the resistance from Usyk the way he should have. Easy for me to say from my comfortable chair but I think if Fury had him (Usyk)hurt like that he would have stayed on that body attack and Usyk’s resistance would have been short lived.
LOL…Joshua has the stamina for about 4 rounds full out ,not many heavies can do 12 like that maybe 2 or 3 and Usyk is one of them but not AJ.
His reaction was odd. His reaction often the Ruiz loss was odd too, in a different way. Not built for 12 rounds…so why did he not finish it earlier?? Blaming others for his failure.
Wonder if he went shopping afterwards, hope he remembers where to shop!
Bizarre. I expected his loss, but not the postfight performance. I think he just caught grief after making so many adjustments, including new coach to still have same result. I do give him credit for the body shots and 9th rd but Usyk is a special fighter. Love how he cameback strong in the 10th.
This second lost was a rude awakening to reality for joshua and his over inflated career by eddy hearn! He was so embarrased and the his speech after the fight was just nuts!Definetely no chance against the top 5 heavyweights!
Joshua is going to reevaluate his legacy, options and desire to continue. He’s either taking an entire year off to work on skills or he’s retiring.
Wow, lot of hate here on AJ.
AJ fought the best pound for pound fighter in the world and lost, he gave it all.
At least he didnt make a thousand excuses like that Bum Wilder and gave Usyk praise for his performance.
When it’s dereck chisora who have to calm you down, it’s a clear sign that you have lost your marbles !