British star Joshua lost the third fight of his professional career in Jeddah – and his second in a row against the Ukrainian – leaving him in a state of “cognitive confusion”. This is believed to have affected his mental state after the fight, leading to his inappropriate rant, throwing the belts out of the ring, which divided the boxing fraternity. Fans mocked Kanye West’s “full on moment” after his microphone was hijacked, questioning his statement about “not nice things” happening in Ukraine following the Russian invasion there. But retired boxer Tony Bellew defended the outburst, insisting Joshua is “respectful, honest and decent to everyone”, insisting “emotion and fatigue” caused the collapse. Below, Sportsmail body language expert Judy James gives her take on what Joshua’s demeanor revealed about his volatile post-fight monologue. Anthony Joshua (right) was beaten by Oleksandr Usyk in their rematch on Saturday night British heavyweight star Joshua appeared disappointed after the judges’ decision was announced Judy James: Backstage, leaving after the match, we can see a glimpse of much angrier body language signals emerging as someone in the crowd shouts “keep it professional”. Coming out, Joshua is still running and looking more like a winner at that point, but the criticism kills his eyebrows and his entire facial expression changes as he appears to be looking for the man in what looks like a state of aggressive arousal. We can see his entourage come in this time to take him away and this could be where the reality of what happened starts to sink in, after the previous show of what looked like cognitive confusion after a brutal battle. This post-fight performance from Anthony would have made total sense – but only if he had won. It was as if the end of the fight triggered the victory speech he had planned in his head, where he talked about overcoming his humble, defiant background to stick it to critics who said he wasn’t as good as legendary ex-boxer Jack Dempsey or Mike Tyson. The former champion launched into a strange monologue upon his return to the ring after the match Victory would see him have the last laugh before praising his opponent in a moment of victor’s generosity, and perhaps the fact that he lost the match took more time to process than the speech. The way he elevated the real winner Usyk and left him standing looking confused as he took the microphone and delivered his big speech suggests just that. Winners grab the microphone after boxing matches. Boxers like Muhammad Ali would never shut down after a win, but dominating the spotlight after a loss before delivering what sounded like the opening of a Ted Talk on the art of success was never going to be an Ali moment. Fueled by uncontrollable emotions and adrenaline rushes? After throwing away his belts, Joshua initially looked and sounded (in his expression, not his words) calm and articulate enough to suggest that his speech might be ending well. There is a moment when we can see or hear a flash of possible anger when he yells “I’m talking!” as he seems to think someone is trying to interrupt, but when he sees that Usyk is asking for his flag behind his shoulders, he immediately apologizes, repeating the word “sorry” as he walks to the ropes with his eyes looking down . Joshua’s post-fight comments came as he was in a state of ‘cognitive confusion’ Joshua’s speech is clear and sounds relatively studied. It starts with “Look…” which is an indication of logical thinking and not anger or uncontrollable emotions. He paces back and forth a bit, again like a motivational speaker as he says “if you knew my story…” and keeps pulling back to praise his opponent instead of throwing a tantrum or active anguish. During his press conference, the enormity of missing the fight seemed to release some mixed emotions. The flashy, limelight-seeking version of Joshua has deflated and in its place is a man overcome with tears of sorrow. Athletes such as boxers often use visualization techniques when training, where they see victory and replay it in their mind to motivate themselves and increase feelings of confidence and success. I wonder if Joshua had seen his winner’s speech so many times in his head that he couldn’t erase it in the heat of the moment. Trying to reclaim his heavyweight gold, AJ put in a much improved performance compared to the one we saw at Tottenham in September, but ultimately it wouldn’t be enough to dethrone the Ukrainian, who masterfully used feints and side moves to to frustrate Joshua throughout the fight. twelve rounds. Despite a judge seeing the fight in his favor, Joshua would once again come up short in his bid to defeat the former cruiserweight champion and walked out of the ring after the decision was read. While the fight will be remembered as a showcase of both the grit and technical prowess of both fighters, the action in the ring was ultimately overshadowed by the former champion’s strange post-fight speech.
