“Am I proud of myself?” Joshua said. “It’s hard to say if I’m proud of myself. Iam upset. Really, deep in my heart…” Everyone waited for him to finish his answer, but he had no more words. Only emotion. Joshua leaned forward, covered his eyes and, clearly, wept. It was such an evening, an intense sporting action but also one that the athlete gave to something more human. A brutality that was both fascinating and difficult to watch. It was surprising because it came from a man who for so long was the epitome of self-restraint. Joshua may beat people up for a living, but he also comes across as a good guy. Charming, sweet, the type of boy a father would gladly allow his daughter to dine with. But here, on a hot night in Jeddah, the Saudi Arabian city by the Red Sea, everything burned. Having lost to Usyk for the second time and consequently failed in his bid to regain his status as world heavyweight champion, Joshua lost it all over again. He threw two of the winner’s title belts out of the ring before storming out of it himself. After returning, he exchanged angry words with Usyk before grabbing a microphone. In front of the crowd of 10,000 people, he delivered a strange monologue with junk. “If you knew my story, you would understand the passion. I haven’t been a fucking amateur boxer since I was five years old,” he declared. “I was going to jail… I got bail and started training my ass. It’s because of the fucking passion we put into this shit, man. “Damn, I’m not a 12-round fighter,” he continued. “Look at me. I’m the new breed of heavyweight… ‘Oh, you don’t throw combinations like Rocky Marciano’, That’s why I’m not 14 stone. I’m 18 stone and I’m heavy. It’s hard work.” I’m a fan, I work hard – but it comes at a cost. Tonight you saw a chink in Anthony Joshua’s armor Joshua eventually got around to congratulating Usyk, but even that was done in a crass way that made it sound insincere. In keeping with the rest of the speech, it was also a little weird. Overall, it was hard to know what to make of Joshua’s behavior. At first there was confusion, shock, even disgust. But in the end it was hard not to feel sorry for him. This, clearly, was not just a defeated man, but a broken one. The prevailing feeling was that someone was exhausted from the life he has been leading since he came to the limelight by winning Olympic gold a decade ago. Joshua turned pro the following year and it’s been relentless ever since: fight after fight, most of them either chasing or defending a world title, the majority staged in front of huge, expectant crowds. Anthony Joshua exchanges words with Oleksandr Usyk after the result was announced. Photo: Nick Potts/PA With that comes enormous wealth, but it’s also exhausting, both mentally and physically, and while Joshua has probably been able to cope during the good times, it’s clearly proved too much during the bad – especially in between his loss to Usyk at Tottenham last September and Saturday’s return. As Joshua admitted, he felt the pressure of needing to reclaim his WBA, WBO and IBF titles, and since he didn’t, it was perhaps no surprise that he folded. “I’m a fan, I work hard and make sure my team is good, but it comes at a cost,” he said. “It will never break me, but it takes a lot of strength and tonight you saw a chink in the armor.” The best of our sports journalism from the last seven days and a heads-up of the weekend’s action Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Hearn also admitted that Joshua came into this fight with the weight of the world on his shoulders and emphasized that this was behind his erratic demeanor. “What you saw was raw emotion,” he said. “People don’t understand the pressure on his shoulders and he’s never been under that pressure. He is an amazing ambassador. Someone I want my kids to look up to.” Hearn also praised Joshua for “putting up a fight against one of the best fighters to ever put on a pair of gloves.” It was only fair of him to do so given Joshua’s performance on his return to Saudi Arabia three years after beating Andy Ruiz Jr in Diriyah. Joshua had vowed to be more aggressive than he was when he faced Usyk in north London and he kept his word. Moving forward in the first round, Joshua secured the center of the ring in the second and constantly peppered his opponent with strikes, none more so than the ninth round when the challenger had the champion scrambling, having unleashed hell. But after returning fire in the 10th round, Usyk took control of the fight through a combination of typically excellent technique and ferocity. Having largely dominated proceedings, it was no shock when he was declared the winner, the only surprise being that it was via a split decision. Two of the judges scored it 115-113 and 116-112 in favor of the Ukrainian, while the other, incredibly, adjudged Joshua the winner by a score of 115-113. For Usyk it was a 20th straight win in two divisions, fueling talk of a mouth-watering unification bout with Tyson Fury – something both men appear to want – as well as providing pride and joy to the ravaged by his nation’s war. For Joshua it was a third loss in 27 fights and one that leaves him with few paths back to the top of his division. This is likely to lead to increased speculation, inside and outside boxing, that he could call it a day, something the man himself was keen to stress would not be happening anytime soon. “I am a fighter for life, hunger never dies,” he said. Hearn went on to describe his desire to see Joshua have “three or four fights next year and get back to the championship belts.” He also described his desire to see Joshua enjoy fighting again, and more than anything, to “be happy.” Given his mood in the wake of Saturday’s game, this is very wise advice indeed.
