Former WBA, IBF, WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua sounded upbeat when he spoke to reporters after losing his work titles to Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday night in London.
“Well done to the winner. We’ll be back again. Get back into training. Great twelve rounds, great experience in the ring, and then we progress from this point on once again so we’ll be doing it all again soon.
“I couldn’t see in the ninth round. I couldn’t see anything really. But it was a good experience because in adversity you just gotta learn to control yourself. Stay on top of things.
“When I couldn’t see anything, it’s the first time it’s happened in a fight. I was thinking ‘all right, cool…this is the first time my eye’s closed up in a fight. I can’t see anything and I’m looking out of one eye.’ But it got better as the rounds went on.
“We’ll be back 100 (percent). I’m ready to get back to training. Because of the twelve rounds, my lungs and everything, it was a good twelve-rounder so I’ll be in a good place when I get back into training to pick up where we left off.
“He’s got good pace but he still gets hit, you know? He gets hit a lot and in the rematch, we’ll just learn how to hit him more and be more concussive with our punch selection.
“I never tend to look at the opponent. I just tend to look at myself and realize where I went wrong. So it’s not so much what he did, it’s the opportunities I gave him. So it’s not so much him, I’m just going to go back and look at myself and correct my wrongs.
“The road to undisputed and all that stuff is good. As I said, I’ll fight Tyson Fury, Wilder whatnot, without the belts. The belts are fun, it’s great, it’s legacy, but with or without the belts I’ll fight whoever. The road to undisputed is a nice title to chase, but would you still watch it without the belts?”
Usyk simply has more weapons, more energy, more tricks up his sleeve. A.J. needs a conventional fighter to shine against. I think we could now see how Fury would’ve boxed circles around him.
One thing I noticed with AJ in the fight is once he measured up Usyk with the jab he kept pawing with it rather than pumping it to keep Usyk on the outside. Usyk got rather used to the pawing jab and could then slip around it easier setting up his left cross. In the rematch, I hope AJ improves on this tactic to change up the fight some. Yes, Usyk’s keen adaptation of slipping that jab was a tool that I felt made him viable to land more on AJ.
Agreed. Also, besides not shooting the jab, why in the hell didn’t AJ keep up those body shots?!
Dan, yes, good point!
There is no use pumping a jab out on an opponent that isn’t there to be hit. AJ was simply using his jab as a feint to set up his straight right hand and he did manage to land it occasionally. Usyk’s head movement and lateral footwork were simply too much for him. If AJ is to have any chance in a rematch he will need to stop boxing in “straight lines” and that will be nearly impossible to do at this stage of his career. Usyk by KO next time.
USKY ain’t Ruiz I don’t see Joshua beating him in the Rematch Joshua might as well fight Wider vs Fury winner USKY is on a whole another level
AJ had a good run. Once any boxer loses a title fight their career is pretty much over. Ads for sugary foods & mental health, Strictly Come Muppett, and panto seasons beckon. Diluted Bruno rebooted.
Gunna disagree with you on that one mate. Kostya Tszyu lost his belt to Vince Phillips, regrouped, came back and became Undisputed Champ. Many fighters have lost a belt, then bounced back to win more.
Sugar Ray Leonard
“Once any boxer loses a title fight their career is pretty much over”. From this silly comment, Usyk has been bashing on you for 12 rounds.
AJ’s got it in his heart to be a great loser.
unfair comment AJ is a true warrior and he loves boxing that’s the bottom line
you wouldn’t last 10sec with him first little touch and you would be gone lets say 2 seconds then loser
This is the winner comment of the day
AJ has to put on an act in order to be accepted and people treat him decent. He cant be Connor McGregor. A good boy like Joe Louis. Anything else he would be prosecuted (Tyson, Charlos’, Tank, Wilder, etc.)
AJ class again in defeat. He would have to go for Usyk from the off in the rematch and go to the body much more and it may well still not be enough.
I wonder if the Ruiz 1st fight has still left scars on him and he has no confidence in going toe to toe. He should remember that he got knocked down heavily by the harder punching , more experienced Wlad and got back up to win.
If he tries to feel Usyk out again then the result will definitely be the same.
Yeah, I also think the Ruiz fight scarred him, he’s realised he can be KO’d and now he’s gunshy.
On top of that he’s just not very fluid/agile and I don’t see him adjusting enough to beat Usyk.
But yes, hugely classy in defeat, humble and respectful.
Wlad was 40 ! a few years before he would have knocked out both AJ and Fury.. Wlad wasn’t in his 26th defense when he fought Fury for nothing.. I sometimes recalled when people were critisizing Wlad for being a weak champ, i was never into that shit allway’s tought both the Klitschko’s were great fighters..
Who is criticizing? Klitschko brothers absolutely top of the division. For at least 3 decades!
The longest reigning Heavyweight champion based on holding a title(s) was Wlad. Some records indicate 4,382 days long Wlad held a title(s). Many folks criticized Wlad’s style as a fighter being boring, but not many fighters cracked the code to beat him until he got older. I am amazed at Wlad’s background; military officer, Ph.D. in educational level, spoke many languages, professional boxer, etc. Outstanding accolades as a person.
Scooby Doo, I believe that Joe Louis holds the longest reign as Heavyweight Champion at over thirteen years, seven months!
Wow, I did not know that. Thank you.
I believe that the longest reign is held by Charlie zelenoff. Undefeated fir decades.
Oh my, love it…The Youtube star!
THAT’S TRUE ABOUT JOE LOUIS… ALSO TRUE HE WAS IN THE ARMY AND THAT’S ALSO A REASON HE HELD IT SO LONG
Glad somebody knows their boxing history! And Larry Holmes held the title for quite a while too!
When they still were fighting on this website you could read one critique after another about them, particularly from US fans.. Don’t remember ? Weak fighters, robotic, no footwork weak chins etc… Lennox knows why he didn’t give a rematch to Vitaly, because before the big cut under Vitaly’s eye opened he was way ahead and on short notice please like 2 weeks something like that ! You are right they were great..
And the critiques were absolutely correct. That’s why they were named Quitskos. Anyone that loses to Corrie Sanders, Lamon Brewster, Ross Purity or Chris Byrd could never be considered great. Klitschkos title defenses really brought back memories of the bum of the month club.
Corrie sanders left hand was fire.
Could you imagine fighting with a dislocated shoulder? The Klitschko brothers were worthy champions and fought anyone except each other.
I think you nailed it. Joshua hasn’t been the same since the first Ruiz fight. His confidence isn’t there and he doesn’t seem to have the desire to be the best.
He needs to completely rededicate himself to get back to where he once was but without the confidence or desire to do it, its gonna be tough.
Class? The guy told people to stop supporting White owned businesses. He’s a racist & some people give him a pass. Glad he got smoked by a European after spitting in the faces of those that provide his standard of living.
Joshua was done wrong with his handlers putting him in with Usyk. AJ not a very good boxer while Usyk is exceptional AJ is more of a supreme athlete getting into boxing t the right time. Usyk was allowed to the front of the line for the best opportunity to win 3 world titles. Usyk may be tricked AJ with the Chisora fight by making it fun. But we now Usyk fought better guys that couldn’t even get close. Usyk will be hard to beat for anyone.
He was mandatory, which means they had no choice other thsn to drop one of his belts
Could have paid him step aside money —This was a disastrous matchup stylistically for Joshua
Insightful comment to make AFTER the fight.
Fury would beat him easily, Luis Ortiz would beat him
Ortiz can’t even beat bumsquad what are you talking about ? We are speaking of a two time gold medalist, amateur world champ, undisputed undefeated unified Cruiserweight champ who yet is HW champ of the world ?! Ortiz is slow with poor footwork, Usyk would toy with him.. Fury isn’t that good he’s just way bigger and heavier than Usyk, i would give him a slight edge if they fight but not betting my money on it..
Like is countrymate Lomachenko, Usyk is one of the best boxers who ever lived..
Best ever this guy couldn’t have cracked the top 30 back in the day. All he does is flick flick flick
Agreed this was terrible management with so much to lose…..They should have put him in with a flatfooted slow but powerful heavyweight like a Dylan Whyte or Chisora—This was bad bad matchmaking
Mike Tyson in his prime would have put them all to sleep!
I THINK YOUR RIGHT NJ… TO ME I THINK UNLESS AJ GOES RIGHT AFTER USYK HE STANDS NO CHANCE AT ALL… WILDER WILL NEVER GET THERE EITHER… FURY HAS THE ONLY CHANCE AS I SEE IT… ALSO THINK THAT’LL BE A BORING FIGHT WITH DANCING MORE THAN FIGHTING… EVEN THEN FURY MIGHT NOT WIN… EVEN THOUGH USYK WAS RATED 10TH IN THE HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION HE WAS ALSO RATED 4TH IN THE POUND FOR POUND RATINGS ACCORDING TO RING MAGAZINE… SO NO MATTER WHAT WAY YA CUT IT USYK IS GONNA BE TOUGH TO BEAT… SOME PEOPLE THINK THAT ZERO DOES NOT MEAN MUCH BUT IT GOT USYK THAT POUND FOR POUND RANKING… SO BEING UNDEFEATED DOES STAND FOR SOMETHING… ALSO MEANS THIS GUYS A WINNER… I’D CALL IT A PICK EM FIGHT BETWEEN FURY AND USYK… I’D HAVE TO GO WITH FURY IF HE DOESN’T GET LAZY IN THERE AND USES HIS LONG JAB TO KEEP USYK OFF OF HIM… BUT WITH FURY HE SEEMS TO GET LAZY IN BETWEEN MATCHES AND I ALSO THINK HE WASN’T READY FOR UPCOMING FIGHT WITH WILDER…
If he does it again he gets KO’d.
Not sure AJ can change enough to beat Usyk. He’s just not atheletic enough, you don’t learn to be atheletic, you either are or you aren’t.
AJ is a relatively (compared to Usyk, Fury) slow, rigid, powerful HW. That type of fighter isn’t likely to beat Usyk, Fury or possibly Wilder.
He’s done well to achieve what he has, but I think it’s blatantly obvious he’s hit his ceiling, no shame in that, we’ve all got limitations.
rematch will be good business
Since boxing is a business, you make a good point. A rematch is would sell tickets since there are many fans on both fighters’ sides. The fight was fun to watch and boxing needed this event to “juice” us up for excitement. Usyk was very fluid in the ring using good outside boxing skills sliding in and out. AJ seemed one step behind most of the time in his timing and was more robotic in his movements. However, take nothing from AJ, he showed good sportsmanship and respect when he lost. I predicted AJ to win via TKO, but no problem to say I was wrong. It does not bother me to predict fights and be right or wrong as it’s all for fun. Have a good day today.
The British heavyweights are always strong, powerful, and robotic. This is just Frank Bruno 2.0
Isn’t Fury a Brit? He moves beautifully, even when compared to much smaller men. If there’s one thing that separates Fury from the pack, it’s his mobility and deft practice of slipping punches in short quarters and his unbelievable motor for such a big guy.
In a rematch Usik would end him earlier before the final bell
A lot of casuals and boxing fans too don’t understand what they saw yesterday.. We witness one of the best boxers who ever lived, a two time gold medalist, amateur world champ, undefeated unified and undisputed cruiserweight champ who now has 3 of the 4 major HW belts.. AJ’s loss against Ruiz shouldn’t have happend but yesterday he lost against one of the best boxers who ever laced a pair of gloves. No need to worship him but damn there’s not a lot of guy’s like him; we have to be grateful about what we saw. Talking about AJ stop diminishing what the guy has achieved in his life as an amateur and pro boxer. Gold medalist, 2 times HW champ of the world and a very nice character overall. He was absolutly superb in defeat and will be HW champ of the world again. Simply enjoy the moment because that was one of the greatest achievement in the history of the sport we all love.. Peace
Usyk would not have gone 2 rounds with a young Mike Tyson. He wouldn’t have gone 2 rounds with Michael Spinks. Now Spinks beating Larry Holmes that was something not this garbage around today
We saw a small quick guy boxing 30 secs a round and getting away with it. He is good but not anything special.
joshuas career is eerily similar to the trajectory as a young wlads was. koed by sanders, then a few fights later koed by brewster….then the 12 year reign.
joshua needs to change camps like wlad did at the lowest point of his career..
Go back to weighing 250,255 and put your muscle back on. your not a track star AJ, your a slugger. you looked too skinny. Go back to muscle AJ. Get mean, dirty, use your height, weight, power, clinching.
Also…Just ###ing eat more while doing more cardio too keep your weight up and maintain stamina. Again 250,255 is your ideal weight. Not a feather 237,240 man.
You were given the genetic lottery….now use it.
I agree. A big guy needs to be big. There’s not a lot of correlation between weight and stamina; at least, it isn’t a direct link that bigger is less productive late in the fight. I think Fury is better at 270+, and I think Joshua is better 250+. Science is showing that having additional body fat (that peaks around 10%) is good for stamina because you then have energy reserves to tap.
This is what I fear Wilder is thinking… that he came in too heavy against Fury. Even at 230, he’s skinny as a rail. He should be working to get more adapted to being a little heavier, but I sort of expect to see him sub-220 in the third fight, which probably means he gets mauled to death by Fury. He couldn’t handle his pop to begin with, dropping weight isn’t going to help.
Even though I called the first bout. I do feel Joshua could win a rematch by putting more pressure on Usyk and making it more of a dogfight. He tried to outbox him and that was a mistake. AJ needs to clinch more and lean on his man. And fire a body shot or 2 during that process.
I expected Joshua to blow Usyk out of the ring in 2! but i was wrong. This is the 2nd time Joshua has been exposed but this time i expect the rematch to be the same result as the first.
Well done Usyk you have a new fan.
Roy, appreciate the honesty, thank you.
Joshua was musclebound he was pushing his punches any trainer will tell you not to lift weights its not good for boxers he had no snap in his punches
joshua is always classy and likeable. He still wants to get right back to it and try again. That’s fair but Usyk outboxed him and won most of the rounds. A.J. is still trying to sugar coat this saying “All right, cool! This is the first time my eye closed?…” No dude nobody cares that your eye adjusted o.k. by the end of the fight! Why? Because you really got taken down well in the 10th-12th (especially the 12th) He is making the silver lining that he “survived”. How did you get the black eye A.J.? It’s because you got touched up a LOT. Go watch the fight back at 1/2 speed, you will see. And related to that Usyk did not get hit that much. Only here and there. He moves his head and feet a lot and looked so much better than vs Chisora. When I saw the wait differential at the weigh in I thought, o.k. Usyk has got this in terms of not being pushed aroundon the inside or the ropes. I figure he could win most of the rounds but wasn’t sure if he would get the decision in the U.K. Chad W. was his introduction to HW and that was a 27 lb margin. Then the test was Chisora at a whopping 38 lb margin on a guy coming forward-never stopping. So this difference was only 19 lbs and Usyk did what he was supposed too, kept his distance correctly and put on a boxing show. What made this fight so great was Joshua is a much better boxer at HW that what you usually get so we will look back at this fight as a good one. Oleksandr was never worried about being mauled on the inside-there were never many clinches unless it was a result of him tagging joshua. Roy Jones said that to win AJ would have to show him he was the boss and make it a rough tough dirty fight. That includes chasing down Usyk, going to the body, using all the smart rough tactics, and that includes solid infighting. Joshua doesn’t do much of that outside of landing some killer uppercuts when in range. Guess what, with Usyk he usually is never in the proper range.
Another fault here in A.J.’s outlook post fight is stating he only looks internally, not what the opponent did. Well that is a recipe for another failure and his 3rd loss. I’m saying this with a basic assumption that instead of going off and gaining 30-50 lbs like Ruiz did, Usyk will take some time with the family and be ready to come back and put on a better boxing display next time.
I think Anthony is trying to rationalize the loss by looking at it only that he didn’t get ko’d or knocked down.
AJ may fight better & smarter in the rematch, but so will Usyk. It goes both ways. The Ukrainian is focused & rarely makes a mistake!
I think a great matchup would’ve been Anthony Joshua vs. Gerrie Coetzee (the Coetzee that KO’d Dokes). Not sure who would’ve won that fight!
I knew Michael RIP back in the day and he was heavy into drugs before fighting Coetzee. After the first Weaver fight his life spiraled downward. Probably before the Weaver fight. I think Coetzee was more like the limited fighter that had a draw with Pinklon and lost to Page
Johnny Ace: I never knew Dokes was into drugs before the Coetzee fight, thought it was after he lost. That is just sad what happened to him.
Henry it became serious after he lost. I remember seeing him a day after he beat Weaver walking around the Ceasars Palace casino and he sure seemed a bit out of it and sluring a bit even then Was told by guys from Akron that he was into drugs a bit even during his amature days. I remember seeing him at a fight wearing a full length white fur and telling all of us it was polar bear fur.
Johnny Ace: Sad. Btw. I never liked that Holyfield fought the very over the hill damaged Dokes. It just felt disrespectful.
Nordic Annihilator: Being South African that was of the most exciting moments ever. Coetzee when he was switched on for a fight was brilliant in all aspects, speed, power.
Henry i was at the fight at a club in Hollywood when he fought Iran Barkley I always liked the other South African fighter Coetzee Kotzebue who I think fought Leon Spinks
Johnny Ace: Kallie Knoetze. Very powerful. He started partying too much and neglected training. But, Kallie stayed healthy and never slurred or showed boxing damage very happy to say.
Coetzee had a bionic right hand that could hurt anyone if he landed. I would’ve loved to seem him in with Holmes, who had been dropped by right hands from both Shavers & Snipes. Although I think Holmes would’ve diced him with the jab, one bionic right landing would’ve made things interesting!
Tyson as well but past his prime. Snipes who wasn’t a big puncher landed a perfect shot and Shavers had huge power but Holmes showed great heart to get up from those shots. I remember making a big bet on Coetzee against Thomas and the way they announced the decision was weird like I couldn’t lose after hearing first 2 cards but was still a draw so very disappointing
The fight was not exciting.
Usyk was an exceptional amateur (355-15 ) and is (and will be ) an exceptional pro. Yes, he’s very much like Lomachenko and maybe better. Joshua’s loss is not that surprising. Usyk will beat him in a rematch.
Did you guys notice how Usyk was dodging straight right hands to the body?.. he moved kinda sideways. Never noticed a boxer dodging body shots that way. That was slick
These lightheavyweights would have destroyed Usyk….Braxton, Gregory, Pops Johnson, Michael Spinks, even Victor Galindez, Mike Rossman and Yaqui Lopez and these were all lightheavyweights a prime Evander would have put him in the hospital or maybe the morgue
Whatever
AJ does better in the rematch. Not sure he beats Usyk, but we will see. Who’s looking forward to seeing TYSON FURY DESTROY “Big Mouth” for a third time next weekend:)
He Will do it again because Windmill simply cannot fight ! And you cannot learn how to fight in a few months ! It took me a minimum of 8 years from my total of 10 years to learn how to box properly !
And like you i can’t wait Fury puts on a beating to Wilder because :
1 He’s full of himself
2 He blamed everyone and everything for his loss
3 He’s not a likable guy, he’s simply a thug with no brain
4 Cannot excuse him for having fired Mark Breland
Hope Fury is trained and hungry what i think he is, because he wants to move on..
Anthony Joshua is a great fighter and his loyalty is to commanded, he needs to get new traners or get extra help, his style needs upgraded he need a completely different approach to win a rematch, i remember when i wore kids paints as i grew i needed new ones, its time to make a change your way of fighting adapt and over come and i think you will over come. The changes are needed weather it bothers you or not dose not mean you don’t like them its time to change paints.
Gotta be tough to find positives for Joshua. One though is Usyk’s face was a mess with only a tepid 19% connect rate for Joshua.
I preferred AJ the fluid boxer-puncher. Yes, it got him into difficulty in certain fights but AJ the cautious boxer is actually more beatable.
My eye closed up??? What eye closed? Damn AJ, take a peek at the many many fights Gatti had with a closed eye or both for that matter and STILL KO’d an opponent! Dude is too soft for my liking!!!!
No expert here, but AJ is not the same after his loss to Ruiz, (mentally) he’s much more cautious, almost like waiting on the perfect opportunity to unlease, he needs to create that opopportunity
Great fight I am very annoyed DAZN had such a bad undercard otherwise I would have bought it. AJ Usyk was a rare heavyweight war. AJ gets to much grief he fought his heart out and never quits but Usyk is just vastly better.
I really just love AJ. Win or lose he is the guy to watch. But for the rematch, I just want him to take out that slim body and focus on blacking out Usky in about six rounds. To hell with twelve rounds, impose your full strength and muscle.
Meh Joshua doesn’t want to mix it up anymore because his chin is too sensitive. Now he is a mediocre boxer. If I were him I wouldn’t rematch Usyk. Joshua will get paid against anyone. Better off waiting to see if Fury wins. And getting more active
Great suspenseful fight, Usyk was determined and like with Ruiz, if AJ has a great challenge in front of him, he panics and it shows in his face, in the 12th round when Usyk was throwing combinations with AJ against the ropes, he was done and would have been TKO’d if it wasn’t the 12th and final round. AJ very dangerous in rematch.