Joshua grabbed Usyk’s WBA and Ring Magazine belts and tossed them off the ropes before grabbing the microphone and launching into a frenzy. Super middleweight legend Carl Froch accused him of stealing Usyk’s moment, while Joshua’s gym partner Frazer Clarke said he should have been “saved from himself” by his team, who “hung him up to dry out”. Joshua said: “I’ll be the first to admit it, I let myself down. I acted out of pure passion and emotion and when I’m not in control it’s not great. I really like this sport and I will be better from this point forward. Anthony Joshua takes to social media for first time since heavyweight loss “Yesterday (Saturday) I had to go to a dark place mentally to fight for the championship belts. I had two fights, one with Usyk and one with my emotions and they both got me. “It was just from the heart. I was angry with myself. Not to anyone, just to myself. Like anyone, when you’re angry you can do stupid things, so I was mad. “But then I realized, ‘Oh, s***, this is sport, let me do the right thing and come back.’ I just spoke from my heart.’ Promoter Eddie Hearn said: “What you saw was raw emotion. A real person who felt the pressure and who wanted so badly to win.’ The British boxer (right) said he had to go to a ‘dark place’ for his fight with Usyk Tyson Fury is back on the road to meet Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world in a mega-million fight in Saudi Arabia. Team Fury are in talks to be worth even more than Saturday’s £85m bonus which saw Ukrainian war hero Usyk retain the WBA, IBF and WBO belts. The fight to unify those titles with Fury’s WBC belt is scheduled for December 17. This is the night before the 2022 World Cup final in neighboring Qatar and the match will intensify the focus on the Middle East. Prince Mohammad Abdulaziz, the Saudi Minister of Sports, confirmed: “We are very interested in the fight for the undisputed heavyweight title. We are looking to do this in the city of Riyadh.’ After defeating Joshua for the second time, Usyk, 35, said: “The Fury fight is the only one I want. If that doesn’t happen, I may not fight again. But I think we’ll fight soon.” Fury took the first step towards withdrawing his latest retirement claim by disparaging the efforts of Usyk and Joshua — “They were s*** and I’d beat them both on the same night” — and then proclaimed: “Gypsy King is here to stay forever, so get your checkers out.’ The WBC has given Fury until Friday to withdraw before declaring his title vacant. Fury has spoken of waiting for £420m to re-enter the fray. He will have to modify that demand but can expect to collect £45m-£50m from a match package worth at least £125m. Tyson Fury reportedly retiring from boxing to return to fight Usyk in December ‘I had two fights, one with Usyk and one with my emotions and they both got me… I was disappointed’: Anthony Joshua on his weird antics after world heavyweight title loss, before praising his ‘class » Ukrainian and wishes him success RYAN WALKER FOR SPORSMAIL Anthony Joshua took to social media for the first time since his loss to Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia on Saturday afternoon. The Briton was emotionally charged as he gave a strange post-match monologue from the ring after the devastating defeat that cost him the chance to regain his heavyweight championship belts. Joshua then broke down in tears during his post-fight press conference after being asked if he was proud of his performance against the Ukrainian. Joshua praised his opponent in a short statement posted on his Twitter account (pictured) The former champion revealed he had to go to a “dark place” for the rematch with Usyk and explained that his emotions got the better of him in a short statement posted online. Writing on Twitter less than 24 hours later, Joshua said: “I wish Usyk continued success in your quest for greatness. “You are a class champion. Yesterday I had to mentally take myself to a dark place to compete for the championship belts! Joshua was around after the match and threw Usyk’s belts out of the ring after the result The Englishman broke down in tears during his post-match press conference in Saudi Arabia “I had two fights, one with Usyk and one with my emotions and both got the better of me.” The Watford-born Orthodox boxer then gave a further update in a later tweet as he admitted he was disappointed: “I’ll be the first to admit it, I let myself down. I acted out of pure passion and emotion and when I’m not in control it’s not great. “I love this sport so much and from this point on I will be better. Respect.’ Joshua hoped to reclaim his status as world heavyweight champion during his rematch against Ring magazine’s No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter as the fight progressed at the King Abdullah Sports City arena. However, his actions after the result have somewhat attracted more attention than the result itself with Joshua heavily criticized for his response to the loss. Joshua tossed two of Usyk’s belts out of the ring and onto the floor at the end as he headed to his locker room before storming back to shake Usyk’s hand. Anthony Joshua (left) is expected to take a break from boxing while Oleksandr Usyk targets a unification fight with England’s Tyson Fury He then stole the mic inside the ring and went on an X-rated rant, discussing the fight, his career, the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, as well as cheers for his opponent. Joshua will now take an expected break from boxing as he works out his next steps, while Usyk aims for a heavyweight unification bout with Fury.
